Agent Potter
by White Angel of Auralon
Summary: HP / James Bond x-over - Harry uses the first chance he gets to escape his horrible life at Privet Drive when he is offered a very special job by a man that is thought to be imprisoned in the infamous prison of Azkaban. Learning more about the magical and the muggle world Harry Potter starts his way in the service of her Majesty. Look out 007, now comes Harry Potter. Later lemons
1. An Unexpected Visitor

**Hi, I have decided that this will be my next project now that I have finished posting Captured in her Eyes. Death's Ultimatum will also be finshied soon, so I wanted to get this story started. I hope you like my idea.**

**Disclaimer for all chapters of this story: I don't own H****arry Potter or James Bond.**

**Now happy reading.**

* * *

**An unexpected visitor**

Harry Potter, first year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sat on his four poster bed in the boys' dorm at Gryffindor tower. He was deep in thought, scowling at the injustice of everything around him. It was the day before all the students were to return home. The only problem was, in Harry's opinion he would leave his home and return to his prison. He had asked his headmaster Albus Dumbledore if he could go anywhere else but the Dursleys. He hated living there, they hated him living there. Why were they forced to live together?

The headmaster had deflected answering those questions and told Harry it would be for the best if he returned to his relatives. His best, Harry could only bitterly laugh at that. He would be better off anywhere but with the Dursleys. But nobody listened to an eleven year old boy. He also had found holes in the story about his parents' death and his coming to stay with his relatives.

Why would his mother, who must have known Aunt Petunia better than anybody else, have wanted him to live with her? They were fighting a war at the time, so the possibility of death had always been present. Nobody in their right mind would leave the future of their child up to those in power if times were that dangerous. After all, they were losing the war until Voldemort somehow got thrown out of his body when he tried and failed to kill him (Harry) as a baby. The explanation that his mother's love had been what had protected him, didn't sit right with Harry. There had to have been other mothers dying for their child.

Why did none of them have the protection Harry had against Voldemort? There had to be more to it. Well, back to his living accommodations. He was sure his parents would have made a will and would have ensured for him being provided. In the library he had found out that the Potters were one of the oldest wizarding families in Great Britain. They were very wealthy. So why were Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon always going on about him costing them too much money? It would be more logical that they were getting a stipend for his care. That would be what he would put into his will if he had a child.

He mentally noted he needed to go to Gringotts to find out more about his family's finances. When he first saw his vault he had been overwhelmed that he had inherited that much money from his parents, but now, after having researched his family in the library, and he secretly congratulated himself for doing so without anybody knowing about it, he thought the contents of his vault could hardly be the whole wealth generations of Potters had accumulated over centuries. And nowhere had been a word about them losing it like it had been with the Weasleys.

This brought up the next question. Why were these things kept from him? He had a right to know all there was about his family. And the main suspect was the headmaster. While he didn't believe the man being evil, he certainly had his own agenda. It was the question what that agenda meant for Harry.

Harry had always been good at pretending being worse at school than he really was. He could have given Hermione a run for her money if he really tried doing his best. But having grown up at the Dursleys had made him careful how much he revealed of himself. He had once slipped up during his fifth year at primary school and scored second best in class. He had been hurting from a beating Dudley and his gang had given him that morning and had just acted on autopilot. He had barely managed to keep his good mark a secret when they got back their tests.

His teacher had taken him aside and asked why he didn't do that well on his other tests. Harry had nearly panicked to come up with an excuse but thankfully the teacher understood immediately. He had experience with children from abusive families. He had checked Harry's files and noticed that all complaints about neglect or suspected abuse had been smacked down immediately by the director, who was coincidentally an old pal of Vernon Dursley. So that road was blocked.

That was the day Harry gained an important ally in his teacher. Mr. Jones had sat Harry down and discussed with him what they would do to help Harry hide his intelligence from the Dursleys and at the same time get Harry into a good position for his future life. Normally a child as talented as Harry would have been supported to reach his full potential. But in Harry's case they had to do it differently. So they decided that Harry would be put into a special program the government had started two years ago secretly.

Harry would spend his afternoons at school under the pretense of detention and would learn more advanced things than other primary school students. Mr. Jones would fill in the required documents with the government and send Harry's tests there. Harry would get faked report cards for the Dursleys to keep up the charade of him being not as smart as Dudley. Intentional refuse on the Dursleys' part seeing the idiot their son was helped along.

Their plan just got difficult once Harry found out he was a wizard. He told Mr. Jones that he had been enrolled at the old private school of his parents. When Mr. Jones asked the name of the school and Harry answered Hogwarts, he had been really surprised that Mr. Jones knew about wizards and magic. He was informed that Mr. Jones' brother was a muggleborn wizard. While the two brothers lived in different worlds most of the time, they got along great. This was great for Harry as he now had somebody who could tell him more about the wizarding world.

Mr. Jones had advised him to keep a low profile for some time at school. His brother had told him that the really important tests would take place at the end of fifth year. Until then it would be best to vanish in the masses as an average or slightly above average student. The best way to get an advantage against enemies, like those Harry seemed to have, was having them underestimate him. And he also told Harry to keep up with his normal education to have more knowledge than the average wizard or witch.

It had been tricky to get everything done. But with his invisibility cloak, his being used to only getting six hours of sleep every night and a fantastic memory he managed to learn both curricular simultaneously. If Hermione had had a clue she would have been really jealous. That was one thing Harry didn't really get. Why did he seem to attract friends who would get jealous of him one way or another? Ron he knew, was jealous of his fame and money. Hermione for what reason ever, needed to be the absolute best in her studies.

They were great friends otherwise but those character traits were a problem which he would have to face sooner or later. Harry finished packing the last of his things into his trunk. He would really miss being able to do magic for the next months. How he wished for somebody getting him away from the Dursleys.

* * *

He was well hidden near the gates of Hogwarts. He had a mission to fulfill and he intended to do it without fail, like always. In his line of work mistakes could kill you and sometimes even cause wars. This time it should be easy. He just had to deliver a message to one of the students before he climbed into one of the carriages that took the students down to Hogsmeade station where the Hogwarts Express would take them back to London for the summer holidays. There he was, the boy who had to get the message.

He slipped from his hiding place, a disillusionment charm firmly in place and with the skill only long practice gave you, slid the piece of paper into the boy's pocket. Mission accomplished. He watched as the carriages left for the station, pulled by thestrals, invisible to all those who hadn't seen death. He had seen too much death in his life, but he wouldn't complain. Without his current employer he would have been off a lot worse. In two days he would finally be able to get the boy out of there. He had gotten the reports from their contact at the boy's primary school.

Their suspicions about the boy's intellect had proven to be true. He was a genius. And it was time that he got the offer to join them. Finally he would meet him again, the boy he had promised to protect but couldn't do so for the whole ten years he had been placed with his relatives. But the time had come. He concentrated on his destination and turned on the spot to vanish as if he had never been there.

* * *

Harry sat in his compartment at the train, feeling the piece of paper somebody had put into his pocket without him noticing anything. He waited for a good opportunity to go to the loo to read the message he suspected somebody slipped him. Finally after one and a half hours he thought it wouldn't raise suspicion and he excused him from his friends and went to the loo. When he was there he checked if he was truly alone and after affirming this he took out the note and read.

_Dear Harry,_

_There are things in the wizarding world you have been kept ignorant off due to decisions of Albus Dumbledore that weren't his to make. I wish to meet you the day after tomorrow at the park in Little Whinging at 5.00 am. Use your dad's cloak to sneak out of the house. I'll tell you anything you want to know and I'm able to answer. I also have to deliver a proposal of my employer who is interested in your abilities._

_If you want to meet me, be at the park at the mentioned time. By the way, I have hidden a special pocket knife for you under the second basin of the loo where you're probably reading my note at the moment. It will enable you to pick all kinds of locks._

_Hope to see you soon._

_SOB_

Well, this was a surprise. Harry wracked his brain to find out if he knew anybody with those initials but he came up empty handed. The idea of somebody answering his questions was tempting. He searched for the pocket knife the note mentioned and he found it easily. So the author of the note was at least sincere in his desire to help him getting out of the Dursleys' house. He could at least go to the park and see what this was about. If he needed to escape quickly, he had his cloak. And some spells nobody would suspect a first year of knowing.

But they were only for emergencies. He didn't want to get into trouble with the Ministry of Magic.

* * *

Harry had just stopped the old repaired alarm clock from ringing. He didn't want to risk the Dursleys waking up. He silently put his clothes on and put some owl treats into Hedwig's cage, he really wanted to throttle Uncle Vernon for locking her up but he knew it would be pointless. His uncle was stronger than him. He let her out to fly a few times when the Dursleys were sleeping, but he always had to lock her up over the day again. Hedwig seemed to understand that she only had a few hours each night to hunt and stretch her wings so Harry didn't get in trouble. The knife was really a great help. Then he sneaked down the stairs without making a sound. He used the backdoor to get out of the house. The front door would have made early risers in the neighborhood suspicious and as gossiping was the lifeblood of many housewives, he didn't want to risk Aunt Petunia hearing it.

He had put his invisibility cloak on before he had left his room and now walked to the park without making a sound. He was curious who wanted to speak with him. it was still dark, but he could see that soon the sunrise would begin. The first signs were on the horizon. Five minutes later he reached the park and cautiously looked around. Seemingly nobody was there. But this didn't mean it was truly the case. With magic you could never be sure.

"I'm glad you came, Harry." A soft voice suddenly said, coming from his right.

Harry quickly turned into the direction and saw a dark haired man in his early thirties leaning against the slide. Why didn't he spot him before?

"I think you can take off your invisibility cloak for a while. The park has been secured with muggle repelling charms for one hour. Nobody will see you."

"Who are you? And how did you know that I was here?" Harry asked taking off the cloak cautiously.

"Sorry, my mistake. I used a charm called homenum revelio, it is used to find human beings even if they hide with disillusionment charms or invisibility cloaks. My name is Sirius Black, I was the one to slip you the note two days ago before you boarded the train. I'm a wizard like you and I'm also your godfather." He explained.

Harry was shocked. He had a godfather? Why did he have to live with the Dursleys then? He took of his cloak to look his so called godfather in the eyes. Bottled up emotions fought against his better reasoning to shout at the man before him why he left him alone all those years. Sirius seemed to understand him.

"I know you're disappointed with me, probably angry. And without the whole story you have every right to be. I just ask you to hold judgment of my actions until you know everything. Can you please do that, Harry?" Sirius asked looking into Harry's eyes.

Harry pondered the request. Sirius seemed honest. It wouldn't cost him much to listen to his story. He could still shout at him afterwards.

"Okay I'll listen. But your story better had to be good." Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That's fair. Well, it all began before you were even born. From third year on you can choose to take the elective of Divination at Hogwarts. It's a very obscure branch of magic and only true seers can really foretell anything. They are born and no amount of work put into studying the subject can help you there. When Professor Dumbledore met a young woman of seer heritage for a job interview, he was witness to a prophecy. This was the only true prophecy that seer ever made. Otherwise the woman is a fraud. Only if she falls into deep trance she is capable of predicting the future. Ironically she forgets them afterwards.

"Now prophecies are never easy to interpret. Most of them only make sense once they have been fulfilled. That one sadly was the reason Voldemort came after your family. The content of the prophecy is this:

_The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches … born to those who have thrice defied him … born as the seventh month dies … and the dark lord will mark him as his equal … but he will have powers the dark lord knows not … and either must die by the hand of the other … for neither can live while the other survives … the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies._

"Now this prophecy could have meant two boys. One was you and the other was Neville Longbottom. Both of your parents were members of an organization fighting against Voldemort, the so called Order of the Phoenix. Both pairs of parents escaped Voldemort three times and Neville and you were born only hours apart on the night from July 30th to July 31st in 1980. Neville was born 11.55 pm on the 30th and you at 2.00 am on the 31st.

The problem was that one of Voldemort's spies heard the first part of the prophecy, he listened until the part with _born as the seventh month dies_. Then somebody caught the spy and threw him out but the damage was done. The spy reported to Voldemort and he began searching for the baby boy who could become his downfall. Both your and Neville's parents went into hiding to protect you. Now the tragedy begins. Your hiding places were somehow leaked to Voldemort and we knew we had a spy in the Order. But we didn't know who the spy was. You moved at least ten times before Professor Dumbledore found an old spell, the Fidelius charm. The charm seals a secret in the soul of a living person. As long as that person doesn't tell the secret those hiding under the charm are safe. Originally I was meant to be your parents' secret keeper, but we changed it at the last moment to another friend of ours from school. His name was Peter Pettigrew. We thought with me playing decoy and Peter only being an average wizard at best, therefore not suspected to be the secret keeper, you would finally be safe."

Harry saw genuine pain in Sirius' eyes. This was not easy for him to tell.

"Sadly one week after the charm being performed Voldemort came to your house in Godric's Hollow and attacked you. Peter had been the spy and betrayed your parents to Voldemort. I had found out that Peter was missing from his home and flew my enchanted motorbike to Godric's Hollow to warn your parents but I was too late. I saw Hagrid getting you out of the destroyed house and asked him what happened. He told me that your parents … that James and Lily … were dead. I tried to have him hand you over to me … as I was your godfather … but if Hagrid has an order from Professor Dumbledore, there is no reasoning with him.

"I decided, as I wouldn't be able to do anything at that moment, to lend him my motorbike to get you to safety. I'd go and see Dumbledore later to try and get custody of you. But at that moment grief overtook me. Your father James was like a brother to me and losing him made me forget reason for some time. I went after the traitor and soon cornered him. But the little rat set me up. He shouted for all the muggles around to hear how I could betray Lily and James, cut his own finger off and blasted the street behind him before I could stun him. He then transformed into his animagus form, a rat, and vanished into the gutters.

"The aurors who arrived a bit later just found the damage, the corpses of twelve muggles and me laughing at the irony. I was a bit mad at the time and blamed myself for killing your parents. I was the one suggesting changing secret keepers. In my eyes I as good as killed them. Well, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had me thrown into Azkaban, the wizarding prison, without a trial or even checking my wand for the last spells it performed and the Ministry still thinks I'm there. I was never questioned, never got the chance to tell my side of the story. Peter was celebrated as a hero and I was painted as Voldemort's right hand man by the press." Sirius ended his story.

Harry had tears rolling down his cheeks. That was what happened? His parents had been betrayed by one of their closest friends? And Sirius had been blamed for it and had been imprisoned and that was the reason he had to grow up with the Dursleys? Sirius put an arm around Harry's shoulders and soon the boy was sobbing at his shoulder. Sirius truly regretted not having been there for Harry.

It took some time for Harry to calm down enough that Sirius could continue.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Sirius asked concerned.

"I'll live. It's just a lot to take in." Harry answered hoarsely.

Sirius nodded and conjured a handkerchief for Harry. Harry blew his nose and dried his eyes.

"So the flying motorbike I saw in my dreams was yours? And the green light I saw and the laughter I heard was Voldemort on that day." Harry whispered.

Sirius was horrified that Harry remembered the attack, but there was nothing he could do about that, except helping Harry to deal with it. He would have thought that Harry would have forgotten about it by now, after all he had just been one year old.

"I understand. Well, I said I was sentenced to Azkaban but thanks to my new employer I never went there. The one they think is Sirius Black is a golem, which looks like me. As most prisoners soon go insane at that place it was easy to switch. The day before I was going to be transferred, an agent of her Majesty, Queen Elisabeth II, came to my cell and offered me a chance to be free. The wizarding world thought me to be a traitor and a murderer. The muggles knew I was innocent as they know things most wizards just ignore. I of course took the chance.

"Harry, have you ever heard of James Bond?" Sirius asked

"He is a fictional figure in films isn't he? There are lots of them based on the books of Ian Fleming. Dudley sometimes saw them on TV and I listened to them."

While Sirius wondered why Harry had only been able to listen to them and not watching them, he didn't comment it.

"That is basically right but those films are based on reality. The MI6 is real and the 00 agents are real. Each agent has assigned a certain name to the number and 007 just happens to be James Bond." Sirius revealed.

"But if the stories are true, why wouldn't they keep it a secret? Doesn't it endanger the safety of the agents if the public knows about them?" Harry asked confused.

"It's the other way round. You can't keep all the activities of a secret service in the country secret. Somebody is bound to find out. Especially as the muggle world developed further and technology became more available. Therefore an agent of the MI6 took the pen name Ian Fleming and wrote the first book about James Bond in 1952. Casino Royal was a hit with the book stores. The secret of keeping a secret is making everybody think that the truth is just fiction. The MI6 decided to have Ian publish more books and soon all the stories became beloved fiction with the muggles.

"The increase in funds for our department didn't hurt either. All the money that is made with the James Bond books and the movies goes to the MI6. The movie companies that produce the films are a branch of our department. We mostly use the films to have field tests for our new equipment. Since 1981 I have been a member of the MI6. As I couldn't return to the wizarding world, I learned to live in the muggle world. And I'm good at my job. I have kept an eye on you through my colleague Richard Jones."

"Wait, my old teacher is a secret agent?" Harry asked shocked.

"Yes, he is. At the MI6 wizards and muggles work together to protect Great Britain. And believe me, Voldemort was really close to be persecuted by us. If he hadn't fallen to you temporarily, he would have had to face to power the muggle technology has."

"But, doesn't magic interfere with electronics? Hermione is always going on about it." Harry wanted to know.

"Normal electronics don't work around magic, but did you really think the secret service would just take that as fact and not try to remedy it? Some of the most brilliant scientists of the world work for us and they have found a solution for the problem decades ago. The Ministry of Magic doesn't know anything about us existing. The magical arm of MI6 that is. We continually recruit the most promising halfbloods and muggleborns who are fed up with the injustice of the wizarding government. And you Harry have been observed for years now. It was a little challenge to get somebody to monitor you at Hogwarts without making Dumbledore suspicious, but we managed. Our agent was placed there four years before you started so there wouldn't be any connection between both your starts there. After all, Dumbledore isn't stupid."

"You have been observing me?" He asked.

"Yes. One reason was that I wanted to be sure the Dursleys didn't abuse you too badly. The other was that with parents as powerful and intelligent as yours and with the prophecy concerning you, you were a prime candidate for us to recruit once you were old enough. Normally that would have been pushed back until you had taken your OWLs but the activities at Hogwarts this year made us decide to act now. You have proven during the past year that you can handle difficult situations even if you're just eleven years old. You even faced Voldemort and are still alive to tell the story. By the way, if I was your guardian, you would so get grounded for that stunt." Sirius grumbled, making Harry look up in horror.

"Hey, we didn't have a choice. McGonagall didn't believe us when we warned her and we couldn't let Voldemort have the stone and come back." Harry protested.

"Harry, you're eleven years old, really smart, but you have to learn not to jump headfirst into danger. You have to plan for all eventualities before you do something risky. I don't berate you for trying to stop Voldemort, I berate you for doing so without having a good plan. You knew who had done the obstacles between the stone and the entrance months before you acted. You should have looked up possibilities what those obstacles were. You have the ultimate spying tool in your invisibility cloak. You could have collected information way before things got dangerous.

"Looking up the biographies of the teachers would have helped and it would have let you know that Quirrell was suspicious. We knew since Halloween that he was behind all the things that happened last year. He was an expert for handling trolls. It should have alerted the teachers. Especially Dumbledore should have acted then. The only one to suspect Quirrell was Snape. And with his past he was the worst person to get everyone alerted. Snape was a spy in the war against Voldemort, we just don't know where his true loyalties lie."

Harry had to digest this information. Snape being a spy; that was not that hard to believe. The man had the skill to disguise his thoughts. He had also to admit that he should have looked up information on his teachers once he knew who had placed protections around the stone. Only finding out about the first one was really stupid. They should have looked up dangerous plants, protective spells and so on.

"Okay you're right, we were a bit stupid just rushing in. But I never really planned going after the stone. First I only wanted to solve the riddle of what was being hidden at the school. After I realized what was at stake I tried to warn McGonagall but she just dismissed us. Perhaps I should have tried another teacher but I feared it would make things worse." Harry defended himself heatedly.

"I understand and McGonagall will get to hear about my opinion of her actions. She should at least have placed guards at the entrance at the off chance you were right. But back to you. My superiors want to offer you to join the MI6. We know that Voldemort has survived in spirit form and is probably hiding in Albania again. We don't know yet how he managed to cheat death, our experts are still working on that part, but we know that you'll be up against him if you want it or not. I don't understand why Dumbledore isn't training you properly to be ready when Voldemort will return. Perhaps he has some delusions of retaining a normal childhood for you, but I'd rather have you train now and be ready when Voldemort finally returns than have you unprepared and endanger your life." Sirius told Harry earnestly.

"But how could I do that? I'm stuck at the Dursleys and if nobody can know that you're free, how could I come to train with you? I'd love to get out of there as soon as possible, but something tells me Dumbledore would prevent it." Harry asked.

"Leave it to us. We have our ways. We have analyzed the wards around your relatives' house that keep Voldemort and his supporters out. They are based on blood. Those wards will protect you as long as you can call the place where your mother's blood lives home. They are a lot weaker than they should be because the second component of the wards is love. You were never loved here, merely tolerated by your aunt. She doesn't want you to die, but further than that she doesn't care what happens to you other than keeping the neighbors' noses out of her perfectly normal family. The real wards would stretch over the whole block and not only cover the house itself." Sirius scoffed.

"We have found an easy way to get around that. I told you about the golem the MI6 had take my place at Azkaban. It's infused with my blood and only a thorough check would reveal it not being me. The dementors who guard Azkaban are blind and humans avoid the place as much as possible. So the ruse is still safe. The golem just lies in his cell and makes sure the food disappears regularly. They haven't found out for ten years now, it's improbable that they will in the future.

"What we'll do is get some blood from your aunt and build a smaller version of my golem based on her blood. This golem just has one purpose, anchoring the wards around the place you'll move to, keeping you safe. The part with 'where her blood lives' is to be taken literally. And the golem is pseudo living. Dumbledore got one thing right, if Death Eaters found out where you lived they would stop at nothing to try and kill you. His wards do a really good job keeping you safe and we don't want to lose that. They had to be strong enough first though to be transferred to a golem, so we didnt attempt to get you out the first six years of your life." Sirius said apologetically. "After that through Mr Jones were were kept updated and would have acted if you were massively abused. But thanks to your wits you managed really well. I'm really proud of you how you handled your situation, Harry." He said smiling, making Harry feel warm. Never had an adult told him that he was proud of him.

"But how would you get Aunt Petunia's blood? She will never willingly cooperate with a wizard." Harry wanted to know.

"Dear Harry, you're underestimating the possibilities the MI6 has. Getting a vial of blood is easy. We have complete dossiers on your relatives. All their dirty little secrets. So we also know that your aunt has a health check done every six months. And her next check-up is in two days. We'll just take the blood sample from the doctor's and be done. She also never reads anything the assistants at the doctor's give her to sign. That way we'll get her to sign guardianship for you in the muggle world over to me. In the wizarding world I'm your official guardian as your parents' will named me so. Those things are everyday work for me, Harry." Sirius said ruffling Harry's hair.

"How are you doing it so that nobody notices that one vial is missing?" Harry asked interested.

"Normally for a compete health check a doctor takes three vials of blood. They just need two for analyzing it, the third is in case anything unforeseen happens. We let them test the blood and take the position of an assistant who destroys the remaining samples after the tests. The doctor never suspects anything and the normal assistant thinks the doctor had done it already."

"That is so easy nobody would suspect it. How do you stop the blood from clotting?" Harry admitted impressed.

"A simple stasis spell and that it's easy is the beauty of it. So what do you say? Are you in?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, I am. I don't want to be unprepared when Voldemort comes back. And if I can get out of the Dursleys all the better. And I want to live with you, I never had anybody who could tell me something about my parents."

Sirius hugged Harry, who first stiffed a bit, then returned the hug. He would have to get used to positive physical contact.

* * *

**That's the first chapter. I think I will post this story every two weeks or so. How do you like the idea? I recently read a really good one-shot about a Harry Potter / James Bond x-over and decided to write my own version.**


	2. First Mission

**Hello, as promised here is the second chapter. Thanks for the reviews, I was surprised to get so many just for the first chapter. Now I hope that you'll enjoy this one as much. And for those who asked about the one-shot that inspired me, it was among a series called 'Common Sense' by Disobidience Writer.**

**Happy reading.**

* * *

**First Mission**

Harry stood next to the basilisk he had just killed. Damn Dumbledore and his inactivity and inability to find suitable DADA professors. Lockhart had been a joke. Hell he had been worse than the possessed Quirrell. It was really a testament of poorness if a Voldemort possessed teacher was the better option than a celebrated so called fighter against darkness. Harry had known that the man was a fraud after one week of him teaching at Hogwarts. He had actually read all his books and found several discrepancies in the timeline. You just couldn't do two things at the same time on two different sides of Europe. And Harry knew for sure that it had been an agent of the MI6 who had defeated the banshee Lockhart boasted to have won against.

The damn banshee had been a threat to important economic resources of Great Britain. She had killed many workers and therefore had to be eliminated. Sirius had told him the story two months after he had joined the MI6. It had been really easy to leave the Dursleys. After Sirius had nicked the blood of Aunt Petunia he had got Harry and Hedwig out of there in the middle of the night. They had moved in at Sirius' home in London. It was truly ingenious. Number 12 Grimmauld Place, at first sight, looked like it hadn't been lived in for a decade, which it would have been if Sirius had truly gone to Azkaban. After all, he could hardly live in his old apartment which had been raided by the Ministry. That would have caused problems.

From the third floor up, the house was an example what magic resistant technology was able to do. Additionally only half of the rooms the house had on the first two floors were accessible for anybody without Black blood. Harry, having a grandmother who had been born a Black, had access to those parts. Sirius had built training areas for himself over the years he was part of the MI6 to keep in shape even if he wasn't at headquarters. On top of that he had stored weapons, potions and useful technology. And you never knew if an emergency would come up where you couldn't access headquarters.

Being a secret agent was hard work and Sirius looked every part of it. He was muscular, but it was well hidden beneath elegant clothing. Harry had been shown videos of missions that other secret agents and Sirius had done and he was impressed how easy it seemed to be for them. There also were those missions that involved all out fights to the death. But those were normally taken by the 00 agents. Sirius wasn't there yet. He was next in line to rise to that status. It took at least three years to have all the abilities that were required for the basic secret agents mastered. Three more years to gain experience with low class and middle class missions. Only if you finished that period to the complete satisfaction of your superior you were allowed to participate in high class missions. Sirius had worked his way up to the top. At the moment all the 00 spots were filled.

But if one of them were to die or retire, Sirius would rise to the open spot. He would be one of the few wizards to ever gain this honour. As a 00 agent you couldn't rely on magic. You had to be the best overall.

Harry had started his training with martial arts, weapon training, strategy, stealth and information gathering. His trainers had been amazed how good Harry had been at gathering information without his targets suspecting anything. He had shrugged and told them he had needed that skill to survive the Dursleys. Without knowing when Uncle Vernon was in a bad mood, he would have suffered more than he did. Mr Jones had him take his tests for second and third year at secondary school and Harry passed without problem.

It was important for him to take all the tests in the muggle world so he could keep his files clean. Nobody cared where he learned and took his tests, that fact could be falsified without problem, but he needed to have tests for each year at secondary school in his files. A secret agent couldn't have holes in his curriculum vitae. It would make enemies suspect the person as an agent. While there were very few agents who were recruited as young as he had been, all the agents had perfect records. Not too perfect as it would be suspicious but near perfect.

Harry's days started at 6.00 am and ended at 8.00 pm. If Sirius didn't have a mission they would just go home together and relax, Sirius would tell Harry stories of his parents, their time at Hogwarts and in how much trouble they got for playing pranks. Harry simply loved his new life. The little golem with Aunt Petunia's blood worked perfectly as Dumbledore never even suspected that Harry wasn't at Privet Drive anymore. The wards had just been moved to Grimmauld Place. And as long as he didn't go there in person they doubted he would find out. His little spy, Mrs Figg as Harry had found out to his utter annoyance, was told that Harry was staying with friends during the summer by a confunded Petunia. Sirius had left a little present at the Dursleys'. Whenever anybody asked for Harry and the only one who would ask was Mrs Figg, they were told some believable story.

Sirius would change the story for next summer as it would be suspicious to always have the same story.

Now Harry had to get rid of this memory or whatever it was of Tom Riddle. Voldemort he corrected himself.

"So, Tom, what are you going to do now? Your little pet is dead and you have lost." Harry mocked.

"You really think so, Potter? I don't. While Ginny is getting weaker I'm getting stronger with every minute. Soon I'll leave the damned diary and Lord Voldemort will rise again." He boasted.

It clicked for Harry that moment. The diary was the key. And from his research he knew that basilisk venom was deadly.

"We'll see to that, Riddle. _Accio diary_." He said, summoning the black book into his hand.

Faster that Riddle could shout 'no', Harry rammed the diary onto the fang of the dead king of serpents. The screaming he heard confirmed his theory that without the diary as a medium, Riddle would just cease to exist. He just hoped he was in time to save Ginny. She was just an innocent victim of Voldemort. The ghostly appearance that was Tom Riddle exploded and Harry took the sword of Gryffindor, really why would the founder of his house hide the sword in the Sorting Hat of all places, and walked over to the prone form of Ginny Weasley. He quickly checked her vitals and was relieved that she would be okay soon.

He thought back to when he had found out about the basilisk.

* * *

_Flashback_

Harry sat in the library, looking through all books he could find on snakes. He was sure that the monster in the Chamber was a snake. But he needed to find out which one. After the failure with Hagrid's hint, really, only Hagrid would think his pet acromantula would be nice to Ron and him, he only knew that the idiots in the Ministry had the wrong guy. He also had to consider the mirror Hermione had in her hand. She obviously had found out what the monster was.

If only the girl would tell him and Ron her suspicions before running off to the library when there was a monster going around the castle. They should have stayed together. The monster had never attacked bigger groups. It had always been small groups or single people. Perhaps it was coincidence, perhaps it was not. But he needed to find the kind of snake that could petrify and kill. He should have realized earlier that it was a snake, but he didn't have that much experience with his parseltongue ability. So it had taken some time. It didn't help either that most of the school was shunning him as the heir of Slytherin just because he had one ability that was considered dark. As if an ability alone made you dark. It was what you did with it that decided which way you went.

Harry turned the pages in the book for rare magical creatures. He needed to find a dangerous snake that could kill or petrify without leaving marks on a person, capable of living for several hundred years to a millennia and that was the enemy of all spiders. Finally he came upon an entry that looked right.

Harry didn't like what he read. It was a basilisk. A snake born from a chicken egg, hatched under a toad. Capable of living several centuries with a stare that kills if you look into the snake's eyes. Mortal enemy of spiders but with one weakness. It died by the cry of the rooster. Well, that he could explore. He would only need to find a rooster.

* * *

Harry was cursing. All the school's roosters had already been killed. Probably by the heir of Slytherin. It would have been easier for him if he could have taken a real rooster. But he was a wizard and he could transfigure a rooster. He just needed to find out how and learn how to do it. Back to the library it was then. But he would also send a note with his conclusions to Sirius. Perhaps he could help him find a spell. And he would inform his superior agent and trainer, Aurora Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher, it had been a real surprise for Harry to be told she was a secret agent, what the monster was and that he would try to learn transfiguring something into a rooster.

The talk had gone well and she had promised to try and use the knowledge he had given her to get rid of the monster, but without knowing the entrance and getting into the chamber it would be difficult. So Harry trained for two weeks constantly to transfigure a rock into a rooster. It was very advanced magic, way beyond his level, but he finally managed to do it. Now he just needed to find out where the entrance to the chamber was.

_Flashback end_

* * *

He hoped there wouldn't be any harsh repercussions from Sirius for going down into the chamber without backup from Agent Sinistra, but he just didn't have time and opportunity to get her alone. Ginny's life had been at stake. He had just figured out where the entrance was after Ginny had been taken and only Lockhart had been trying to go down there. Or so he had thought. The guy might have been a fraud, but he didn't want to let the idiot die if he could have prevented it. A waste of time really.

"Well, Fawkes, I really don't want to do something like this again soon. You were really great by the way. I wouldn't have been able to fight the basilisk if you hadn't blinded it." He thanked the red and golden bird who trilled happily.

Ginny seemed to wake up. She looked around frantically. Then she spotted him.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry. It w-was me who o-opened the ch-chamber. But I, I didn't w-want to d-do so. Riddle m-made me do a-all those h-horrible things." She hiccupped.

"They will e-expel me for sure. I l-looked so m-much forward to coming here, e-ever since Bill went. I t-tried to t-tell you and Ron at b-breakfast, but I-I couldn't t-talk with P-Percy there."

She was crying and Harry gently pulled her into his arms. She needed the comfort.

"They won't do anything like that, Ginny." He said soothingly. "I'll tell them the truth. I have spoken with Tom Riddle's memory, avatar or whatever it was and it confesseded controlling you and making you do those horrible things. I have the diary as proof. There is a way to show other wizards memories and I'm sure Professor Dumbledore would listen to us and look at them before he decides what to do. Don't worry. You were just a victim of Lord Voldemort. You're no dark witch."

Harry comforting her did the trick. Slowly Ginny calmed down. Ten minutes later Harry thought she was up to returning to Ron and then the castle.

"Let's go back, Ginny. I think by now Ron will have cleared a path for our return. We had a little accident on the way here because Lockhart the fraud wanted to obliviate your brother and me. You wouldn't expect a defect wand being so useful." He tried to cheer her up a bit.

"Ron is also looking for me?" She asked. "Lockhart is a fraud and tried to memory charm you?"

"Yes to both. I'll tell you the whole story later, or you could get Ron to do it. He was sick with worry for you." Harry said.

Ginny just leaned into the half embrace Harry offered and let him lead her out of the chamber. Fawkes followed them flying.

* * *

They arrived at McGonagall's office to the sight of Mrs Weasley being comforted by Mr Weasley and Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore sitting behind McGonagall's desk. Everybody's eyes turned to the three kids when the door opened.

"Ginny!" Mrs Weasley cried and pulled her daughter into her arms.

Dumbledore was smiling lightly in his chair behind the desk. Harry thought he had no reason to be this satisfied. He had left his students in danger. If Hermione had managed to figure out what the monster in the chamber was, Professor Dumbledore should have been able to do so too. Harry would have warned the school earlier, but with him being labelled as the heir of Slytherin after accidentally speaking parseltongue at the duelling club, nobody would listen to him.

At least this time he had had a plan. Sirius wouldn't find any reason to ground him. He had known the weakness of the serpent to the crow of the rooster. There had just been one problem. All the school's roosters had been killed by Ginny on Riddle's orders. So he had practiced transfiguring a stone into a rooster. It had taken him two weeks to get it down but he had done it. Just to find out that transformed roosters didn't crow when they were supposed to do so. There went his wonderful plan of just having his rooster substitute kill the snake.

Thankfully the hat had arrived with Fawkes. The sword was not his favourite weapon but as he didn't have a gun strong enough for the job, it was his best bet. Now he was really grateful for all the sword training Sirius had put him through. He had just managed to evade being bit by the monster snake. And of course, oh the irony, the damn rooster now decided to crow. He had blasted the damn thing to smithereens.

Harry told the edited story of what had happened in the chamber and what Riddle had told him. It wouldn't do for Dumbledore to suspect anything of his secret training. As he had predicted Dumbledore let Ginny get away without punishment and gave one of his usual speeches. Then Malfoy Sr. turned up and tried to get information. Harry figured from the strange behaviour that completely disturbed house elf Dobby was showing that he had been the instigator of all the terror this year. Harry decided to have a little bit of fun. He asked Dumbledore for the diary, went out of the room, wrapped the diary in one of his old socks and ran to catch up to Malfoy Sr.

* * *

He found him in a corridor on his own, once again abusing Dobby. Harry hated abuse in all forms.

"Mr Malfoy, you forgot something." He called out.

"And what would that be?" Malfoy Sr. sneered.

He was nothing against Snape. Really that man had the evil sneer down to perfection.

"You forgot your diary. Remember, you were the one to place it in Ginny Weasley's cauldron at Flourish and Blotts." Harry said and pushed it into Malfoy's hands.

"And can you prove that, Potter?" He asked threateningly.

He took of the sock and threw it away, not looking where it went.

"I'd advise you to not put your nose into matters you're not meant to know. You could go the same way as your parents otherwise. Too nosy for their own good too. Dobby, we are going." He called out.

Harry grinned. He knew what was coming.

"Master gave Dobby a sock. Master threw it and Dobby caught it. Dobby is free." The happy elf announced at the disblieving and then furious look of Mr Malfoy.

"You have stolen my servant!" Malfoy thundered intent on hurting Harry.

Thankfully Dobby stopped the attack. Malfoy crept away his dignity and backside injured from hitting the wall hard. Harry just grinned brighter. It was time that arrogant prick was taken down a few pecks. Now the only thing left for the year was waiting for the feast where all the petrified persons would return. After taking the thanks from Dobby who then vanished with a loud pop of course.

Harry was looking forward to his holidays. No Dursleys, a lot of training, that was sure, but he would see Sirius again. And he wanted to get better. This was the second time in two years that Voldemort had made an attempt to return. If this was a pattern, he needed to be stronger next year. Who knew what would happen.

* * *

He hated Sirius. He officially hated him. He had reported accurately what had happened and that he had had to save Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets. He had described them trying to get help, sadly it had been Lockhart who they met first, but then they had to hurry to get into the Chamber before Ginny died. He suspected that the trip into the acromantula lair had been to his disadvantage. But still, he had practiced the transfiguration of the rock into a rooster. It hadn't been his fault that the damn thing didn't crow when it saw the snake.

It was totally unfair that he was grounded. It didn't help that Sirius had decided to use him being grounded to teach him etiquette for both muggle and wizard high society. Harry knew it was a necessary skill for him but hell did it annoy him being forced to eat like he had a stick in his back. Sirius evil grin wasn't really assuring either.

Harry had passed his sixth year secondary school exam and therefore the muggle equivalent of the OWLs. His trainers had decided that he now could concentrate on other subjects for a while. It had helped that with his occlumency training remembering information was really easy. His mind was highly organized and recalling certain things only took the fraction of a second. The tests would be put in with the Ministry of Education at London at the appropriate time. They just needed to add the date on his tests to disguise him taking them at twelve bordering thirteen years of age. Mr Jones was really happy with Harry's results. He had got straight A's in his classes except for his French class where he intentionally scored with B and his Philosophy class where he scored B-. It would be strange for a student to have all classes marked with A.

* * *

Harry sat opposite of Stacy, his trainer in lying. Yes he had to learn how to lie professionally. The other part of this training was to spot other people lying. He had memorized the plans for an old operation and Stacy had the job of interrogating him. Harry knew he would get harder interrogation training when he was older. For now he had to make Stacy believe his fake story or distract her from asking the right questions. He would find out the reason for Sirius' evil grin soon.

"So, Harry, would you please tell me where the troops are positioned?" Stacy asked smiling at him.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about. Are you sure you have been informed about the right things? I know about the line-up of the football world-cup for three foreign teams. That I could tell you about." Harry answered innocently.

"Okay, sweetie, start telling me the line-up. I'm sure I can get some money if I sell it to the trainer of England." She answered taking out a notepad.

Harry was slightly taken aback but immediately regained his wits. She tried to catch him of guard. Well he had learned his material. No better way than hiding information than offering something else that is also true. It would at least buy you time.

"Sure, well the German team will be … " Harry told with a calm demeanour the line-up of the German team, then the Brazilian team and finally the French team.

"I think that is all I remember. I hope it will help England win the world-cup." He said smiling brightly.

Any normal person would have believed him. And with his innocent face they would think they really had just been misinformed. After all for some people football was like a war. And suspecting a twelve year old of having military information was so unbelievable that it would play out in his favour. But she knew that he had information and she would get it. She just needed a point to attack his carefully built façade.

"Thank you so much, sweetie." She was coming closer; her ample breasts were only marginally covered by her costume. A lot of cleavage was visible and Harry had a few problems looking away.

"I'm sure you're willing to tell me more about the interesting things you know. After all a teenager like you, who can remember so many facts about football line-ups has to have to remember more interesting facts about other things with the same efficiency. Right? You would surely do me this favour."

She was talking with a sweet and seductive voice. Harry was beginning to sweat. This was over his head. But he had to try and keep his information safe without her noticing anything. Now he knew why Sirius was grinning like that a few days ago. Obviously Stacy was a seduction specialist and he was a hormonal boy just starting going through puberty. Damn it all. He hadn't got to the chapter on resisting seduction yet. What the hell would Sirius do?

Probably turning the game around and starting seducing his interrogator. But he couldn't do that. It would be ridiculous trying to seduce a woman twice his age, next to the fact that he didn't know a thing about girls and women.

"I don't know what you want to know." He said trying not to stare at her cleavage.

"Oh aren't you adorable. It's alright to look at a beautiful woman. We like being admired, Harry." She rolled his name in her mouth, making him changing feeling hot and cold in short intervals.

Harry finally found a way he hoped would work in this situation.

"Oh, it's just I have been taught that it was rude to stare." He said making him sound younger than he was. Perhaps playing on the little kid factor might help.

"Don't worry about it. Now perhaps you can tell me about battles you have learned about in your History classes. I think that would be very interesting. Especially why the positions of the troops were so important and where each squad was placed."

She tried to bring the talk back to military operations. Well he could do that.

"I have to admit that I don't remember that much about battles. You see we had this really boring teacher. He was so boring you would have believed he had died one day and came back to teaching as a ghost. Therefore I really had problems staying awake in History classes not to mention getting anything he taught. I could tell you about playing chess with my friend at the weekends at my boarding school. Those are the only battles I'd know about. Sadly my best friend is a genius at chess and always wins before I can even realize that I have been beaten. Perhaps you should question him on the best formations for battles." Harry said mock-pouting thinking about being beaten all the time by Ron.

* * *

Outside the training room behind a window that allowed them to observe the training Harry went through, Sirius, M and 004 intently watched Harry's interrogation training.

"I have to say he has the basic skills down pretty well for his age." M acknowledged.

"Yes, but he will break soon if Stacy ups her seduction attempts. At the moment she is at the showing phase, when she gets to the touching phase he will give her what she wants." Mark Fellowny, Agent 004 commented.

"I agree, Mark. But for not having any training in seduction and resisting it he is doing quite well. Trying to get her to refrain from using her full skills by pretending to be a little boy will only buy him some minutes though." Sirius stated.

"Yes, but he has potential. I have an operation planned at Manchester in one week. A meeting between a drug dealer and his supplier. They are pretty low on the ranking list of the organization but they are good at spotting our spies. I want to send Harry there to get us information about the other chain links. I think sending a teenager into a shopping centre will be less suspicious than having adults looking around. Get him ready for this." M ordered.

"Are you sure it isn't too early for this?" 004 asked.

"It's a low ranked mission. Harry needs experience and that kind of mission is pretty low risk. He is perfectly capable of doing this. Get him equipped with recorders and brief him on the location. He is to continue his normal training until the day before this will go into action. Any additional information he can dig up is welcome. Sirius you and 004 are in charge of this mission."

"Yes, sir." Sirius answered.

Inside the training room Harry got caught up in contradictions and Stacy pounded on them. It took little for her to nail him for lying to her but Harry kept the true information safe for another ten minutes, which impressed Sirius a lot. He had thought that Harry would spill sooner.

* * *

Harry stood in front of a shop-window looking at the new computer games that were presented. The intel the MI6 got on this mission was that the two subjects would meet near the electronics shop. Harry had the job to window-shop for all things that a thirteen year old boy would be interested in. He was dressed casually in blue jeans and a green t-shirt. Over this he wore a black jacket with pockets at the shoulders. Both pockets were closed with a button. His hair had been dyed blond and he wore blue contacts. His scar, his most notable feature was hidden under make-up and his fringe. He had committed the blue prints of the shopping centre to memory and was ready to follow his targets if necessary. The time the deal was set to happen came and passed. Harry just continued looking around. He knew if the targets got suspicious the whole mission had failed. He didn't want to fail his first mission.

Finally he heard some voices coming nearer.

"Man, why did he have to call us out here?" One boy asked.

"Don't know be quiet now. We just want to get this over with and then get back." Another one answered.

"Do you know your job, Piers?" a third voice asked.

"Sure, I'm to look out for anybody behaving suspicious and warn you. Really if Dudley can do this job, I can as well." A voice Harry knew really well said.

Harry used the window of the shop to identify the speakers. He saw two boys who were probably sixteen or seventeen years old in clothes that were currently considered in and Piers Polkiss who obviously was involved as the older boys' lookout. Well now he had a lot of information for M. He could guess that the older boys were either students at Smeltings or lived in Little Whinging. As he didn't recognize them, he guessed the former was true.

He quickly shot pictures with the miniature camera hidden in the buttons on his shoulder pockets. He would need the pictures for the later investigation. The two older boys sat down in an outdoor eating area of a fast-food stand. Harry moved while getting his wallet out, seemingly looking if he had enough money to buy himself a burger. He went to the attendance and ordered a cheese burger and a coke. He got his burger and coke, gave the man the money and left to one of the seats to eat.

Soon the contact of the two boys appeared. He looked around, seemingly bored and then sat down with the two boys. It was a young man, at most twenty five, short red hair, muscular build and casual clothes. Harry got another picture.

"Everything clear?" Harry could hear him say in a low voice.

Harry's recording device in his wallet recorded everything.

"Sure, Nathan. There were no suspicious characters. Only normal shoppers." Was the answer in an equally low voice.

"Good. Do you have the money?" He asked quietly, while studying the menu.

"Of course. 10.000 as agreed. Your part?" The older of the two boys asked.

"One kilo. Disguised as a racing car. The usual quality. How many customers have you got the past year?" Was the reply.

"Twenty six. On top of the fifty one we already had. We are also training up our successors for the time when we graduate. The rat faced boy out there is our second apprentice. For now he is just a lookout. His boss in their little bullying group is promising. The fat one we normally take to be lookout. Perfectly ruthless. And his parents don't want to see any faults their precious son has." One said.

"Good work. You'll be assigned bigger jobs after graduating. For now, keep up the good work." Nathan replied.

Harry didn't really see the man taking the money, but he took a picture from the older boys leaving with the racing car. He just didn't believe it. His stupid cousin Dudley was trained up to become a drug dealer. Well it fit his personality.

* * *

Harry reported back to Sirius and Mark as soon as he was back at headquarters. He had browsed through two more shops, bought two CDs and a cool t-shirt and then left the shopping centre.

"Alright Harry, we have listened to the tape and your camera is at our specialists for development of the pictures you took. Any additional observations?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, the name of the boy who was lookout is Piers Polkiss; he is living in Little Whinging, Surrey and attends Smeltings School. He is thirteen years old, a coward who attacks from behind and part of a gang of bullies that was founded during their time at primary school. The leader of the gang is Dudley Dursley, who is also thirteen years old and sadly my cousin. From what I heard the two older boys are managing a dealer ring at Smeltings School and are training Dudley and his gang up to take their places once they graduate.

"Dudley is stupid, fat and used to get his will. He is totally spoiled by his parents who think their son is perfect. He has been bullying me for all my life and was never reprimanded; therefore his drift into criminality isn't that surprising." Harry reported.

Mark whistled.

"Jackpot!" He said impressed. "We just had to send the one junior agent that was familiar with one of the dealer group. Now we have a starting point for further investigation. We can shadow the older boys. Knowing which school they attend will make it easy to identify them. I hope their contact is known to our archives. Good work Harry." He praised the boy who just smiled.

"Thanks." Harry said proud getting praise from a 00 agent.

"I'll take the information to M for him to decide what will be done next. Harry, you return to Jake for your martial arts training." Sirius said.

"Understood." Harry answered and left the room.

"He will be great one day." Mark commented.

"Yes, he will." Sirius agreed smiling and left with the report for M.

* * *

**So that was the second chapter. Did you like it? Please review.**


	3. Dementors and Teenage Anger

**Hi, here we go again with the first look into the third year. As of now there are no pairings, which will also be explained soon. Hope you like it. Thanks to all those that left reviews. Happy reading.**

* * *

**Dementors and Teenage Anger**

Harry seriously doubted the ability of the wizarding world to deal with criminals. This was his third year at school and because of a magical disturbance caused by a mild earthquake at North Sea the golem that had pretended to be Sirius for twelve years now, had imploded, leaving only fine dust behind. Now the Minister, in his unequalled stupidity, had put dementors around Hogwarts because he thought Sirius would target Harry to finish off the job he had begun in 1981. Really why did it have to be dementors? Harry was so close to setting a bunch of patroni at them.

But that would be bad for his cover. He first had to learn how to do the patronus charm. Thankfully he had convinced Remus Lupin, aka Moony, aka last marauder besides Sirius, to teach him. But it was hard pretending to struggle with a charm he had been able to do for a little over a year now. Defence against dark creatures was one of the first things Sirius had taught him. With his near fate dementors had come directly behind boggarts. Which in Harry's case curiously were the same.

Harry was glad to have found the Room of Requirement; otherwise it would have been difficult to hide his training. He was physically working out for one hour each day. He was also doing target practice with guns and throwing knives. He was doing the katas for his martial arts training and went through different movements for his fencing practice. Once a week Agent Sinistra taught him new moves and techniques for two hours and put him through the paces. At the weekends Sirius slipped into the castle and personally trained him. Except when he was needed for a mission. Harry knew Sirius would be going to Zimbabwe next week. They had a lead for the drug syndicate and the case was just a bit below requiring 00 agents. From what he knew 004 had been sent to China.

Harry also wanted to train becoming an animagus. It was a good ability for a spy to have. And Harry intended to become the best. He would gain 00 status sometime in the future. For the moment he was restricted to learning everything about his animal though. More would only start when Sirius had the time to properly monitor him.

Every week Harry got a new assignment to train his abilities at Hogwarts. It had started with writing profiles on all the students at Hogwarts. From the first years to the seventh years. And as detailed as possible. He had taken a big part of his second year to find out all he could on his peers. It led to Harry knowing his way around the castle better than the Weasley twins, who he suspected had found the marauders' map. Well, he didn't need to have the original map, with Sirius' help and his knowledge of the castle he had made his own version. As well as one for Agent Sinistra.

And having detailed profiles on all the young witches and wizards came in handy. He could tell if a rumour was true most of the time by just knowing who was involved. He could prevent attacks by Slytherins against lower years if he read the sign of what kind of aggravation they perceived right. He had stopped seven attacks so far and had left the attackers in the most embarrassing positions he could think of. Needless to say that Harry had a lot of imagination after living with a former marauder. He personally thought his impression of mating flamingos starring four fifth year Slytherins was the best so far.

A small annoyance was that he was not allowed to visit Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione. While they had got Petunia's signature without problem, Harry could have faked it, but getting her signature by other means had been another test-mission for him, the teachers thought it would be safer for him to remain at the castle. And of course nobody thought it prudent to tell him any reason why. Of course he knew but it infuriated him that they thought they had the right to treat him like a five year old.

When they started assigning him guards, they really thought he wouldn't notice, it was enough. Harry knew any normal teenager would make a scene and now he would do so.

"Alright, if you don't explain to me why in Merlin's name you think you have the right to imprison me here at school, I'll just walk out of those doors with the others for the Hogsmeade weekend. I have my aunt's signature that I'm allowed to go. She is my guardian after the not-so-wise man Professor Dumbledore decided that an abusive home would be best to raise the so called saviour of the wizarding world. And it was damn hard to even get her to sign the permission form. The Dursleys are hell bent on making my life miserable. I have had enough. Parental permission overrules decisions by teachers except if the student broke some school rules and has detention. I haven't broken a single school rule this year. So if you don't have a damn good reason, I'm out of here!" He yelled at Professor McGonagall in the Great Hall.

Professor McGonagall went through several different colours on her face. First red, then really pale white, when he mentioned abuse, then green as he rightly stated that they had no right to keep him at school when he was allowed to go to the village. And the signature hadn't been faked. It was Petunia Dursley who had signed the form.

"Mr Potter, don't use that tone with me." She reprimanded.

"Which tone should I use then to get you to listen? Every time I tried to be polite and asked for a reason I was just told to not mind and that the adults knew best. Newsflash, you never listened to me when I had important information. Ron, Hermione and I told you that somebody wanted to steal the Philosopher's stone in our first year; you threatened to deduct points from Gryffindor. Why didn't you at least investigate if we were right?

"God damn, Hermione is the best student in our year and the least probable person to break any rule if there was another choice. Then second year, has any of the Professors even tried to make the whole student body stop shunning me for just being able to talk to snakes? No, of course not. Let a twelve year old boy deal with all the emotional abuse all alone. If it hadn't been for Ron and Hermione, the Gryffindor Quidditch team and a few others that I can count on one hand, I'd have gone spare and would have acted out. I encourage anybody to try going through my life while keeping sanity." Harry ranted and looked around accusingly.

Many looked ashamed for their behaviour last year.

"At the end of the year it was up to me, again, to stop the true heir of Slytherin before he could kill the student he had dragged into the chamber. But the teachers weren't able to deduct what Hermione, a twelve year old girl, found out the day she was petrified. You never even searched her body for any clues. She had a piece of parchment copied from a book in her hand. All the information on the monster in the chamber being a damn basilisk was there.

"So excuse me if I have problems trusting the ability of the teachers to decide what is best for me and the other students. Did we have any lessons how to defend against dementors when they get out of control? No. Were we informed that chocolate counters their effects? No. We were warned not to get near them.

"What if they get near us? What if we again did nothing wrong but they decide that they are hungry? Have you thought what might happen if they decide that the emotions during the Quidditch matches are what they want to eat? I bet you didn't. Just begin thinking of the most probable scenario, then perhaps we'll get through a year where I don't have to face Voldemort, one of his cronies or his pet basilisk at the end. This is a school but I feel like it's a prison for me this year."

The Great Hall was deadly quiet. Many looked ashamed for their actions last year. Harry had every right to be furious.

"Mr Potter, how can you compare Hogwarts with a prison?" Dumbledore asked indignantly.

Harry turned towards the head table and projected some of his most horrible memories at the Dursleys so if he decided to use Legilimency he would get a taste what life there was like. The old man deserved it for stealing Harry's childhood.

"Let's see, Professor, first, I'm not allowed to visit the village which is obviously perfectly safe for the other students. Professor Lupin can confirm that I'm able to protect myself against a dementor now, so they can't be the problem. The escaped Sirius Black is as dangerous to me as he is to the other students. After all he killed thirteen innocent muggles if my information is correct. This can't be a reason to deny me my rights either. Then I can list at least ten upper year students that constantly follow me around and think I wouldn't notice. It starts with Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater, the head-boy and head-girl and ends with Samuel Vanice the fifth year male Hufflepuff prefect. Do I need to go on?"

Harry crossed his arms over his chest. Professor Dumbledore looked like a deer caught in headlights. He hadn't thought Harry would notice his guards.

"I thought so. So if you can't give me a good reason, I'll get my things now and wait at the gate to go to Hogsmeade." Harry said and waited a minute. "I thought so, good day, headmaster, don't expect me to trust you in the near future."

Harry stormed out of the hall. This might have brought attention to him, but it was just the normal reaction of a pissed off teenager. He thought he heard Snape utter the words attention seeking brat. Well, he could play that part. If it needed to be in the spotlight for a few weeks to finally get the teachers to do their jobs, it was well worth it.

* * *

The teachers now experienced how it was to be stared at by the school. Not a nice feeling. The whole of Gryffindor house glared at them. They didn't like one of their own being treated like that. And they knew that Hermione would have protested if anything Harry had told them wasn't true. And she was as mad at them as the rest, denying a student's rights was against the school charter.

The Hufflepuffs also were angry with them. Harry Potter had always been friendly with them and they had really regretted that they had believed the rumours last year. From what they knew now, he had saved Justin from the snake that Malfoy had conjured and the idiot Lockhart had enraged. Anybody who would do that for a member of their house had their loyalty. The other third year Hufflepuffs also told how he never made fun of them and was easy to talk to during their Herbology lessons.

Ravenclaw house, knowing that Harry had been absolutely right about the school rules, just looked at the head table as if they were crazy. Penelope was ashamed that she had just followed the request of the teachers to have an eye on Harry without a doubt.

Even Slytherin was impressed by Harry Potter's display. If Slytherin acknowledged anything it was power and a good laid plan. While most of the school just saw a teenager rightfully snapping, they could see the intention under it. He had embarrassed the teachers in front of all students. He had pointed out how he had been wronged without them being able to hush it up. Now they could either continue with their behaviour and be seen as those who condoned child abuse and imprisonment or they could give Harry what he wanted. There were no other options.

Either way, the students wouldn't support their teachers anymore. And as Harry was famous for defeating Voldemort as a baby, with his saying that he had now faced something related to him three times in as many years at school, they began wondering about the safety of the school. Anyway there would be lots of owls leaving the school that day and angry parents added to the pressure Harry had just created.

Minerva McGonagall looked like she had been slapped. But she also felt that she had deserved the verbal slapping. Harry had been right in everything he said. They hadn't told him about the danger he was probably in. And there had been no signs at all of Sirius Black coming to Hogwarts. He hadn't even been spotted anywhere in Great Britain since the day he was found missing at Azkaban. And it had been Albus who had placed Harry with his relatives against her advice. It seemed they had completely failed the boy. She looked at Albus, who looked like he had swallowed something really bitter. Damn, this would become a real problem.

* * *

Remus Lupin was the only one of the Professors who had been able to move. He immediately went after Harry. He had argued again and again with Dumbledore to tell Harry why the security measures were necessary. The boy was smart enough to cope with it and refrain from doing something dangerous if he knew what was happening. But he hadn't been believed. Severus only telling that Harry was a notorious rule breaker didn't help at all. Why the man cultivated a hatred of James even twelve years after his death Remus would never understand. He could understand Severus being bitter about their time at school, but he hadn't been any better.

Involving Harry in his vendetta against James, a boy who didn't even remember his parents, was just cruel. But hearing Harry's story made him understand the boy and he knew that if nobody approached him, he would close up to them. He had no reason to trust the teachers from his experiences in the past two years. And if he really had been abused at home he would be wary of trusting adults in general. He just hoped it wasn't too late.

Harry stormed to the Room of Requirement. He needed to blow off some steam. He hadn't thought he would be this enraged. But probably it was a small part of his past that he had needed to let loose. Harry asked for a room with a punching bag and got it. He went inside and closed the door behind him. He had one hour until the students were due to leave the castle for the village. He would be there.

Harry took of his robes and put on the boxing gloves. It would take too long to heal his hands after hitting the bag with his bare hands. So he started punching the bag in quick succession shouting out his frustration. He didn't even notice the door opening and closing again. He was caught up in his emotions. Well, he normally could allow himself to let his guard down at Hogwarts for a bit.

Remus saw the door at the wall of the seventh floor and wondered where it led to. He couldn't remember this door from his marauder days. But perhaps this was where Harry had gone to. Otherwise he would have already caught up with him. He opened the door and could hear noise from the inside of the room. It resembled somebody punching something and angry shouts. He decided to go inside and found Harry hitting a punching bag. He quietly closed the door behind him and let Harry lose some of his obvious frustration.

Finally after perhaps ten minutes of constant punching, Harry seemed to be finished. Sweat was rolling down the boy's neck. Remus decided to throw him a towel. This seemed to be the moment when Harry finally noticed his visitor. He turned around abruptly. To Remus relief he lowered his guard after recognizing him

"What are you doing here, Professor Lupin?" He asked, using the towel to dry his sweat.

"I followed you from the Great Hall. I wanted to talk to you. But when I found you and saw you hitting the punching bag, I thought it better to let you vent your frustration until you felt better before saying anything." Remus replied calmly.

"Thanks for that. I feel a lot better now. The last weeks were starting to drive me crazy." Harry admitted. "It's bad enough that they stare because somehow Voldemort couldn't kill me as a baby. They don't understand what that so called great victory cost me. But being kept a prisoner at a place that is more my home than with my so-called relatives; it was just too much."

"I understand. I won't force you to talk, Harry, but I want you to know, if you ever need a willing ear, you can come to me. Or even if you just want to have a cup of tea." Remus offered.

Harry smiled. This was an offer he could gladly accept.

"Thanks, Professor Lupin, I think I'll come back to that. Well, I need to go to Gryffindor tower to take a shower before I go to the village. Bye, Professor." Harry said and left the room.

* * *

When Remus returned to his office, Minerva was waiting for him.

"Did you find him?" She asked concerned.

"Yes, I did. I briefly talked to him and offered him an open door if he wants to talk." Remus answered.

"Did you convince him to stay here?" She wanted to know.

"No, I didn't even try. We have no right to deny him visiting Hogsmeade with the others if Petunia signed his form. Sirius hasn't even been spotted once since his escape. I'd think he has fled to overseas. As long as I don't see proof of him coming here I won't help any longer with shadowing Harry." Remus stated.

"But Albus thinks…"

"Tell me, Minerva, has the headmaster really allowed the things Harry spoke about in the Great Hall to happen in the past two years? If he did I'm starting to doubt his ability to properly judge certain things. It has torn me apart that he forbid me to visit Harry when he was a child, but I believed him that it was to ensure Harry's safety. Now Harry tells us that his home was abusive. This isn't my understanding of safety, Minerva. Harry is all I have left of my family. I won't allow anybody hurting him further." Remus declared.

The older witch couldn't say anything against Remus' reasoning. From that point of view nothing could be said against Harry finally refusing to listen to those who never protected him like they should have done.

* * *

Harry left the castle with Ron and Hermione without problems. Filch was growling at him, but Harry had his permission to visit the village. Nobody could say anything against it.

"Was it really necessary to make such a scene in the Great Hall, Harry? I mean, you were completely right that they have no right to deny you the visit, but I think it would have been better if you didn't tell them off like that in front of all students." Hermione said.

"No there was no other way. They needed to be cornered. I have tried so often to make them see what my life was like. I have asked Professor Dumbledore each year if I couldn't stay anywhere but at the Dursleys. I mean, the Weasleys offered me to visit every summer. Just getting away from there for some weeks would have been heaven. He didn't take me serious. We told McGonagall about the stone, she blew us of. I protect Justin, the whole school turns against me and the teachers do nothing. A prisoner escapes from Azkaban and we are surrounded by dementors because the Minister is an idiot who only thinks of what the public may think and our teachers don't even tell us the basic measures to help ourselves if get too close to those monsters.

"I'm sick that others decide over my life. And that those decisions aren't for my benefit. I have yet to see one decision that was properly thought through. No, the only teacher that has so far looked out for me like he should have done is Professor Lupin. He agreed that I needed help with the dementors and taught me the patronus charm. Even if it's a really advanced spell way beyond third year level. He tried to help me helping myself. He is at the moment the only Professor I trust and respect." Harry stated.

"Just leave it, Hermione." Ron said. "Harry is right and it's already done, nothing can change that."

Hermione huffed. Her ingrained opinion that teachers had to be respected argued with the reality her best friend was constantly put through.

* * *

Harry sat at a table at the Three Broomsticks, enjoying a butterbeer with Ron and Hermione while discretely listening into the conversations of the other customers. It was a habit he had developed during his training. The best places to gather information were pubs, restaurants, public events simply all places where people let their guard down and relaxed. It was even easier when people had drunk. Hagrid being the prime example.

Most of the conversations rotated around Sirius' escape. It was too bad that they couldn't replace the golem. But the waves of public uproar would go down with time. And Sirius was rarely in the public eye. While Minister Fudge had informed Prime Minister Major about the escape of a dangerous wizard from Azkaban, after he had left the MI6 had immediately contacted the Prime Minister that Sirius Black was innocent and one of their top agents.

Needless to say the public was never informed of the escape. Therefore Sirius was safe while being in the muggle world. Which didn't mean any difference to his life from the years before. But Minister Major had informed the Queen about the miscarriage of justice by the Ministry of Magic and she had promised to induce steps to remind the wizarding government that she was the ruler of all of Great Britain. And that the laws of the Commonwealth were to be obeyed by all citizens of Great Britain. And the right to a fair trial was one of the most basic rights.

"I think it's curious that only the magical world is concerned because of the escape of Black." Hermione said.

'Uh oh, I should redirect the discussion. I don't think it would be good if everybody around us found out that the muggles weren't informed about him being an escaped prisoner.' Harry thought.

"Perhaps it's because the police is better suited to deal with dangers to the public. And you have to admit it would cause a panic if the mass of people were informed about his escape. While single people would normally react sensible, you know from what we learned in History at primary school how easy masses can panic and things escalate worse than they normally would have. I'm sure the departments in charge are doing what is needed to be done." Harry said.

Hermione looked like she hadn't thought of that.

"You're probably right. It makes sense that they want to prevent mass hysteria. Look at how the wizarding public is acting." She said.

Harry was glad to have avoided that problem.

"You have to understand that his escape reminds them of the time You-Know-Who was powerful." Ron explained, defending the wizards. "Dad told us a bit about the time after the Prophet reported the escape. It was horrible and everybody lived in fear. Add to this that it was said to be impossible to escape from Azkaban and you get why everybody is stressed out."

Harry decided they could talk about that. But he really hoped that the teachers had taken his concern regarding the dementors and the upcoming Quidditch match Gryffindor vs. Slytherin serious. He knew Lupin wouldn't be there as it was the day after the full moon. He would be incapacitated. Thanks to Sirius he knew about Professor Lupin's condition. As long as he took precautions for the night of the full moon Harry couldn't care less about it.

* * *

'Un-fucking-believable!' Harry thought while racing on his broom.

Of course special rules were made up for Slytherin because Malfoy played injured from the time Buckbeak had attacked the ponce. And the ones suffering for it were Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Gryffindor had trained moves to match the Slytherin style and Hufflepuff wasn't in top form because their first match against Ravenclaw would only be in four weeks' time.

Add to that a nice little thunderstorm which prevented each seeker from spotting the snitch properly to end the match and drowned them all in the air and you had one unhappy Harry Potter. Thankfully he could see perfectly despite his glasses being wet. Nobody knew it but his sight had been medically corrected at headquarters during the summer break. His glasses were just for show now. No need to attract attention. But he still needed to be extremely lucky to find the snitch in this weather.

Thankfully his opponent Cedric Diggory was in the same position. Wizards were just stupid. It would have been easy to reschedule the game for the next weekend. Nobody would have complained and the spectators would have happily agreed. Nobody liked being out in this weather.

Finally Harry and Cedric spotted the snitch and raced to the little golden ball twenty feet above their heads. Then Harry felt the effects of the dementors.

'Why do I have to be always right?' He sarcastically thought, quickly pushing a ball of chocolate into his mouth to keep conscious and using the precious seconds the chocolate relieved him from the effect the monsters had to grab the snitch.

He turned to Cedric and pointed at the danger they were in. Cedric nodded and they both raced down as fast as they could. Sadly it wasn't meant to be. Somehow the dementors seemed to target Harry specifically. He felt the effect of the chocolate ceasing and he had problems staying on his broom. Why did nobody conjure a patronus? He had left his wand in his locker. It was against the rules to use magic during a game. Forget the rules, next time his wand would be in its holster at his wrist. If he survived this. No he would survive. Those monsters wouldn't get him.

Finally something silver approached their position. It seemed like a silver bird. Dumbledore had finally decided to do something for a change.

Harry and Cedric got some room to get to the ground. Both were visibly shaken when they landed. Their teammates rounded on them and Madam Hooch noticed the snitch in Harry's hand and declared the match over with Gryffindor winning. Harry couldn't care less. He would have gladly accepted a loss if only all the players were safe from the dementors.

He sat down on the wet and muddy ground. His strength was used up and he couldn't call up the energy to stand. He was shaking badly. He didn't have any chocolate left. The little ball he had eaten during the match was his emergency ration. He was glad to have thought of it.

"Mr Potter, please, you have to go to the hospital wing." Madam Hooch told him.

"Can't stand. Too weak." Harry brought out.

"Don't worry, Harry, we'll take you there safely. Your catch was impressive. Getting the snitch under those conditions was remarkable." The Weasley twins said, each grabbing one of Harry's arms and draping him over their shoulders.

"Thanks, Fred and George." Harry said smiling.

The whole team patted his back when they escorted him to the hospital wing. Wood was grinning like a madman. Slytherin's plan had failed. They were in the lead for the cup for now.

* * *

**That's it for this chapter. See you in two weeks with the next one.**


	4. Catching a Rat

**Here is chapter four. I'm really impressed by the number of reviews that I got. Happy reading.**

* * *

**Catching a Rat **

It was the Christmas holidays and Harry sat in an armchair across from Sirius at #12 Grimmauld Place. Both had mugs of hot mead in their hands. Leaving for Christmas had been easy. He just had told Professor McGonagall that his reasons for leaving the school over Christmas were not her problem. She didn't after all ask the other students why they returned home. After the fiasco with the Quidditch match, Harry still smiled at the article he had sent to Robert Cromberry, one of the more serious journalists working for the Prophet, the teachers had to cope with the criticism of their students and the parents.

It didn't help that they had been warned what might happen by Harry days before the match took place. Having dementors attack students at the school grounds was bad enough, that happening after Harry Potter had warned them in the Great Hall with all students at Hogwarts present and still not preventing it was a disgrace of immense proportion.

The Daily Prophet had printed Harry Potter's letter on the front page and the Minister wasn't happy at all. Parents from all social classes were sending howlers, demanding him to remove the dementors. It was not one of his better weeks at the Ministry. Well, Harry didn't feel any remorse for his actions. It was time that the wizarding world woke up. They just believed all the crap the Ministry sprouted without questioning it. Two weeks after the attack at the Quidditch game the dementors had finally left the school.

"Congratulations on your success, pup." Sirius said.

"Thank you, Sirius. I'm glad that those monsters are gone now. It helps me keeping a low profile. The next match I could have been forced to use a patronus to get rid of them. Being an angry teenager is one thing, being a powerful teenager is something else, which I want to keep a secret as long as possible." Harry replied.

"Well, while your approach would have been too obvious in the muggle world, I know that the Dumbledore cult at Hogwarts had dumbed people down for a long time." Sirius commented.

Harry perked up. This was new information for him.

"Could you elaborate this further?" He asked.

"Sure. You know that your father, Remus, the traitor Pettigrew and I were infamous throughout our Hogwarts days as the marauders. Well, 75 % of the spells, potions, traps and whatever else we used for our pranks were not things the normal Hogwarts student was ever taught. The information is in the books at the library, but only the most ambitious Ravenclaws ever studied the more obscure branches of spells and so on. We were innovative. We combined different branches of magic like nobody had ever thought before us of doing so.

"I have always been interested in History. Not the trash Binns is teaching, but the true history of the wizarding world. You sometimes wouldn't believe the things the old wizards and witches were capable of doing. But with time passing, many things were forgotten. Many were also just taken from the curriculum. The problem is that with the purebloods tending to inbreed and the large number of muggleborns coming to Hogwarts, people in charge of the educational standards thought it would be problematic if the standards young witches and wizards had to meet were too high.

"In the 1950's the standard subjects for first years were vastly different than they are today. Have you ever wondered why Great Britain is lacking so many good potioneers?" Sirius asked.

"I always assumed Snape had something to do with it. Many quit taking the subject after fifth year because they want to get rid of him. Additionally he has the standard of only taking students who got an O in their OWL for the NEWT level course." Harry answered.

"That is only the recent history. Snape has only begun teaching in 1985 when Horace Slughorn retired. The problem already existed before that. While I'll admit Snape's teaching is making the situation more problematic, from my generation I only know perhaps four students that could have become potion masters. Your mother Lily and Snape being two of them and Snape is the only one who reached his mastery. And my age group was more numerous than yours. I think we had three times the number of students your age group has." Sirius told Harry.

"Is this because of the war against Voldemort?" Harry asked.

He had never really thought about the consequences the war had on the wizarding population for the coming generations. But it was obvious now that he thought about it. They were only nine or ten students on average in each house in their year. While there may be some home schooled kids, the majority was attending Hogwarts.

"I wonder, are there more magical schools in Britain besides Hogwarts? I know that in France Beauxbatons is the premier magical school and the other leading school is Durmstrang which is somewhere in Eastern Europe."

"No there aren't. The Ministry refused to support more schools in Britain while Hogwarts had open capacities. The castle can take a hundred and fifty students each year and still not have problems housing them all. The castle is magical. We had three dorms for male students each year in Gryffindor and there still were no problems with space. The house elves just enlarged the rooms magically." Sirius informed Harry.

"So if you were roughly one hundred and twenty students in your year, you want to tell me that out of that large group only four were qualified to become potion masters?" Harry asked disbelievingly.

"Yes. What do you think is the biggest problem for beginners to become good at potions?" Sirius asked. Harry needed to understand the core problem.

Harry deliberated on the question. What were the most serious problems in potions he knew about? He thought about the accidents that were quite common in Snape's classes.

"I think it's a combination of many things. Potions require precision. In our first lesson Neville managed to melt Seamus' cauldron because he added an ingredient before taking the cauldron of the fire. Then the ingredients have to be prepared in certain ways. The direction of stirring also influences the result."

"You have got the main problem. Beginners don't know the basics of brewing. Most pureblood children are taught about ingredient preparations if their parents want them to excel in this art. They know when to stir clockwise and when counter-clockwise. But not all of them are taught this and the muggleborns know nothing about it when they come to Hogwarts. Your mother was a rare case. The problem is, seventy years ago roughly a fifth of a normal year became potion masters or at least experts. This also meant that professions that needed that knowledge were easier to follow."

"That is an enormous discrepancy. What was done differently back then?" Harry asked.

"There was a class called Potion Basics. It was mandatory for all first years. The only Potions the first years were allowed to brew were really simple and had no risk of getting dangerous. The real subject Potions only started from second year on. By that time all students had a good understanding of the reactions of ingredients and basic safety measures. The Potions classroom is located in the dungeons for a good reason. The low temperatures keep potions from reacting with the surroundings. While it could be improved a lot by getting more light there and being better tempered during winter, it's the best place for brewing potions.

"The preparation course was dropped after Dumbledore became headmaster, some of it being caused by purebloods in the board of education at the Ministry. It was to disadvantage muggleborns and those from less wealthy families who couldn't afford to tutor their children before Hogwarts. But Dumbledore didn't really fight for the course, perhaps because Potions had never been his forte. The man is brilliant at Transfiguration and Charms and one of the most powerful wizards, but he tends to neglect other things that aren't at the focus of his interest."

Harry again hated the prejudice the Ministry allowed to continue.

"But if the purebloods were such big supporters of that change, how comes that most of their kids in my year don't seem to be far above the level of the others? I mean, from all the Slytherins in my year only Draco Malfoy and Daphne Greengrass are really good at Potions. And I know that the Greengrass family is doing business with potions, therefore Daphne had to know a lot about the subject and Draco is Snape's godson, which explains his skills. From the other houses most pureblood children are only marginally better, if at all, than the rest of us." Harry wanted to know.

"What do you know about the concept of inbreeding from your scientific studies with Ralph?" Sirius asked.

"It occurs if two persons, who are closely related, have children. If the genetic material the child inherits from his parents is too similar certain illnesses can appear. Good examples for genetic disease are the nobles of Europe. One of the most well-known diseases was bleeding disorder, which only appeared in males. That was the reason why many people believed for some time that it was related to the Y chromosomes. But studies have confirmed that that disease is based on defect X chromosomes. The reason only males suffered from bleeding disorder is that with females the second X chromosome kept the woman healthy. But her children could inherit the defect chromosome.

"Therefore bleeding disorder is what we call a recessive gender chromosomal illness. As the nobility usually married their children to other members of nobility those diseases spread around and without enlarging the gene pool, genetic defects were never countered as the children could only inherit defect DNA." Harry recited his studies, then looked thoughtful.

"I can see where you're going. The same is true with most pureblood families. Only few of them married muggleborns. Why did nobody ever see this?"

"Because they didn't want to see it and they were trained to not think for themselves. You have to remember: Voldemort killed all those who opposed the extremist pureblood teachings, even if he himself was a halfblood. He is only as powerful as he is, because his father's non magical DNA replaced many of the weak genes his mother's family had bred into their line for generations. The Gaunt line, the last branch of the Slytherin line, has a history of severe inbreeding. They didn't only marry cousins with each other, they married siblings." Sirius stated.

Harry looked disgusted. Having sex with your brother or sister because your family was crazy? Urgh.

"With generations of children only receiving similar or even identical genes, the strength of their magic fell. There are some families who still possessed strong magic, but they were a minority. Many magical talents were lost over time. But after generations those gifts somehow returned in children that had mixed parents, meaning parents that were either muggleborn and pureblood or muggle and pureblood. A good example is my cousin Andromeda who married a muggleborn wizard. Her daughter Nymphadora inherited the metamorphmagus ability, which had been though lost to the Blacks.

"Of the strong remaining families most were Voldemort's inner circle. Which were Voldemort's most dangerous followers?"

Time to quiz Harry on his studies. Knowledge was power after all.

"Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black. Ruthless, insane and a master of the cruciatus curse. She was by far the most dangerous Death Eater, even if she is female and therefore she would normally have been lower in hierarchy following pureblood customs.

"Lucius Malfoy. Equally ruthless, sly and backstabbing. One of the Death Eaters who helped stall the counter measures by the Ministry. He was one of the main financers of the war. He is of veela heritage five generations back, which is the reason for the strength of his bloodline. But the Malfoys deny any creature heritage vehemently.

"Antonin Dolohov, a classical powerhouse. While being a halfblood his family would become pureblood again with the next generation. He was the leader of brutal assaults on muggleborns and their families. His attacks were a main reason for the fear the Death Eaters caused.

"Rastaban and Rodolphus Lestrange. Together they were responsible for mass torturing of opponents of Voldemort. The only Death Eater more accomplished with the cruciatus curse was Bellatrix." Harry listed.

"Very good, Harry. Those were the most dangerous, most powerful and most skilled of them. And they all only had average marks in their NEWTs at Hogwarts."

Sirius enjoyed the surprised look on Harry's face. History was an important part of the knowledge a secret agent had to have. And Harry would operate in both worlds. So he needed to know the history of both worlds.

"I can see your confusion. The reason they were such a problem was Voldemort. He personally saw to it that each of his new recruits went through a six month training regimen outside of Great Britain. We found out after his fall, that all his top Death Eaters went through camps in Algeria. When they returned, they unleashed spells most wizards and witches were overwhelmed with. To make the problem more severe, they hadn't learned to properly defend themselves at Hogwarts because there hadn't been a constant DADA teacher for decades. Most weren't even capable to cast a basic shield charm. You see the pattern." Sirius said.

Harry nodded. He had never thought that the problems in the wizarding world went so far back.

"So basically Voldemort adapted the concept of the terrorist camps for his Death Eaters. With the general population being lacking in their education, they had it easy to sew terror. Normally governments only have a chance of winning against terrorists with a no tolerance policy. Damn. The Ministry of Magic did the complete opposite. From what I remember from my studies only the ass Barty Crouch really propagated using harsher means to get the Death Eaters. And it only was at the end of the war. Far too late to make a difference." Harry cursed.

"That's the problem if military commanders are also politicians. During war times you need a different kind of leader than during peacetimes. Winston Churchill would never have been a good Prime Minister in peace times. But during World War II he was the best choice. While he had a second period in office from 1951, he still had to deal with the after effects of the war. The bombs on Great Britain did a lot of damage and rebuilding was a time consuming process.

"Neither Millicent Bagnold nor Cornelius Fudge really wanted to do house cleaning, to use the muggle term. They were perfectly content with imprisoning the known Death Eaters. Anybody else who paid enough gold and declared being imperiused got away with a slap on the hand." Sirius explained.

Harry understood. A government stood and fell with its leader. And the wizarding world had only had weak leaders which was a real problem against a strong leader like Voldemort who professionally organized his troops. No wonder it had taken a fluke like him surviving the Avada Kedavra to end the war. Harry didn't believe in destiny or fate. People made their own destiny. Nothing was absolute. A single decision could change things. And going a certain way because a prophecy told it would happen was just stupid. The only mistake Voldemort had made. Going into a situation without having complete information.

"Were there other subjects that were dropped from the curriculum?" Harry asked.

"Yes, for one there was an introductory course for muggleborns which was two hours a week, mandatory for all muggleborns. They learned about wizarding customs, magical law, the basics of our economy and meditation techniques. Another class was languages. There are methods to accelerate learning a language. Barty Crouch has used it intensively. That's the reason he speaks so many foreign and magical languages fluently.

"The MI6 adopted the method for all magical agents and converted it to be used for non-magical agents as well. For non-magicals the limit of languages they can learn that way is six. But you get a lot of countries covered with being fluent in six languages. The most common are Russian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Chinese, Japanese and Swedish. Each agent knows at least four of them and three others. The 00 agents are required to know ten languages fluently."

"How many languages do you speak Sirius?" Harry wanted to know.

"Twenty four. You have to remember that I'm a wizard. As I don't work a lot in the wizarding world with being a wanted criminal there, my repertoire of magical languages is limited to Gobbledygook and Elvin. The other languages are human ones. As you know, I'm regularly operating in Germany, getting rid of remnants of the former GDR. A lot of hints the research specialists, which the new German government has ordered to work through all the files the secret police tried to destroy, has found were results of my investigations there."

Sirius never went into detail of his missions. Harry didn't have the security clearance yet. But rough descriptions were alright. If they would still be fighting the cold war, things would be different. Sirius had been operating in East Berlin for some years; Harry knew the job had been really dangerous. If anybody had suspected him being a British agent his life would have been on the line. With the Eastern Bloc falling apart in 1989, things had got slightly easier. But remains of the old communistic regime were still in positions of power.

Principles of democracy were only slowly taking foothold. And Russia was downright corrupt. Assassinations were the norm. Only the weakened economic had allowed opposing parties to have a chance for change to happen. Germany had been lucky as it was farthest away from Russia. The same was true for Poland and Hungary. Especially as those countries had other historical roots. Hungary had long-time been part of Austria, Poland part of imperial Germany.

"Okay, I think I had enough of a history lesson. My training will recommence after the Christmas days and as far as I was informed you also are on holiday until then, what are we going to do besides basic training to keep in shape?" Harry asked. They had one and a half weeks for holidays.

"Well, how far have you got with getting closer to girls at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked grinning.

"Uhm, well I haven't actually tried to get a girlfriend. You told me that I won't be able to have a steady girlfriend in our line of work. So I thought it better to not get too close to any of them. But I know that most girls like me and my fan club is still going strong. I'm always polite and helpful and many of them wouldn't mind doing me a favour. Why do you ask?" Harry asked back.

Harry got a weird feeling in his stomach looking at Sirius face.

"Because, my dear godson, we'll travel to Egypt, spend our time at the beach and you'll start trying to woo girls. You're now thirteen, an age where you begin being interested in girls. It can happen that you're ordered to be support on a mission. Acting naturally in different environments is our bread and butter. And we can't have one of our agents being uncomfortable because a beautiful female is around. I know it will be strange in the beginning. But you know how James gets most of his missions done. His records with women are legendary." Sirius said.

Yes, every member of MI6 knew how James Bond acted around women. The man was better at seduction than Stacy. And as Harry had found out, she was promoted to 003 a year ago, the only female spot in the 00 ranks, and specialized in the area.

"Alright. I can live with that kind of vacation." Harry said.

Trying to impress girls in a country where nobody knew him was easier than doing it in England. Somebody could recognize him. And he couldn't have the press.

"I assume I'll get one of those language learning crash courses." He said.

"Yes. Q's assistant R has already arranged everything for you. The whole transfer of knowledge will take six hours. You'll be put to sleep for it. It's easier that way for your brain to process the information. When you wake up you'll be fluent in Egyptian, German, French and Bulgarian. That should take care of most home countries the tourist girls there might have. Your goal is getting dates, perhaps a little kissing but you're not to go farther. Egypt is an Islamic country. We don't want to get problems with local law enforcers." Sirius warned. "While Egypt is moderate in its views we have to be careful. So no sex even if the girl is willing. You'll probably only attract girls around your age. So they are minors. And sex with minors has severe punishments in Islamic countries. Understood?"

"Yes." Harry answered blushing heavily.

He knew he would have to sleep with women in his job when he was older but hell, at the moment he was a teenager going through puberty. The concept of sex was still embarrassing for him. Which was probably the reason for this combination of a vacation and training. Well, he liked this kind of training.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office frowning while thinking how much things had spiralled out of his control at school. The problem was there was no easy way to repair the damage done. Harry Potter had lost his trust in him. He wouldn't listen to his advice anymore. He had thought the boy would be easy to lead on the path of his destiny. But now the only teacher who had some connection with Harry was Remus Lupin. And despite the respect and gratitude the man felt for him for allowing him to come to Hogwarts as a child, Harry was family to Remus and family trumped all other allegations the man had.

Things had not gone well the last two and a half years. Objectively he could see where Harry came from. Perhaps it had been a mistake to send him to Petunia, but he didn't think she would actively mistreat her nephew. That wasn't how family was supposed to behave. And he had lost his chance to have a positive role in Harry's life with constantly denying the boy basic happiness. He had been the one to send him back after first and second year. The blood wards were protecting Harry. But the boy didn't know that. But it would destroy his childhood if he was aware of the dark cloud the prophecy was in his life.

A small voice in his head was telling him different, that Harry had never been able to be a child. A child could trust in the adults in his life to protect him. Harry never had such a person in his life. In his first year he had tried to do the right thing and Minerva had ignored his concerns. He could understand her; eleven year olds could come up with the most fantastic stories. But that decision had cost them dearly. Three first years had gone after the stone. And two of them had been badly hurt.

Last year they had let the school torment Harry, had said nothing against the students shunning him for the suspicion of being the heir of Slytherin. None of the teachers had done what would have been right. While he had told Harry that he believed him about not attacking the students, he hadn't helped him either. And it hurt to admit that if they had helped Harry he would have come to one of them and would have told them about the voices he could hear in the walls. That Hermione Granger had figured out that a basilisk was roaming around the school made it worse. The teachers were supposed to protect the students. Not the other way round as it had been like in the end. Again.

Harry had slain the basilisk with Fawkes help. The boy could have died. Again. It happened too often. And the only adult they had tried to tell what the monster was, where the entrance to the chamber was and how to get into it, had been more concerned about getting away. Of course it had to be the DADA teacher of the year. The only positive thing about the situation was that he was 100 % sure that Remus Lupin didn't mean harm to Harry.

But they had to change things for him to have the tiniest chance to lead Harry through the sure upcoming fight against Voldemort. But it was risky to tell the boy too many things.

Fawkes just shook his head sadly. His old friend didn't see that he had no say in the way Harry Potter would confront Voldemort. Albus meant well, but his habit of keeping necessary information a secret could very well lead to the downfall of the wizarding world. He was a scholar not a fighter. Thankfully the phoenix knew more about the things that happened in the castle than Albus did himself. Fawkes was connected to the castle through ancient magic. And he knew that out of the sight from everybody else Harry Potter was already training for the inevitable confrontation with the man that had taken his parents and therefore his childhood from him.

Harry Potter was a warrior. He knew about duty and he knew about sacrifice. But he knew the young man would fight to prevent becoming a sacrifice in the coming conflict. Albus was wrong that only Harry alone would be able to defeat Voldemort. He needed help. He needed support, but Albus had lost his chance to stand at Harry's side. The boy would accept information and training but he would never allow anybody else to make decisions for him about his life. He had had enough of other people ruining his life.

* * *

Harry was pretending to sleep. He had to wait until all of his dorm-mates were sleeping before he could perform the spell to deepen the sleep of all the ones being in the dormitory. He and Sirius had agreed to just dispose of Peter Pettigrew without anybody finding out. Sirius didn't need to be cleared in the wizarding world. If it would become necessary, the MI6 would take care of providing the evidence. They would imprison the traitor in a magic resistant cell and interrogate him for all useful information on Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

With Hermione's cat Crookshanks trying to get Wormtail, Harry knew he had to strike before the coward ran away. Harry could read the signs of distress in the rat. He thought the only reason he hadn't run yet was that Sirius hadn't been seen since his escape. Finally, at three in the morning Harry was sure that everybody was fast asleep even the rat. Seamus, Dean, Ron and Neville had fallen asleep hours ago but the rat, obviously nervous, had moved around a lot. Harry didn't waste any time and whispered the incantation for the spell.

He waited two minutes to be sure that it had worked, then he climbed out of his bed and went to Ron's bed. He silently took the sleeping rat, carried it over to his bed, where he had a container, which was inscribed with runes that suppressed magic, ready to place the rat in. He closed the container, put his invisibility cloak on, cast a silencing spell on his feet and sneaked down the staircase. He silently opened the portrait hole and walked towards the Room of Requirement.

Sirius had come to the room early in the morning and was staying there until the end of curfew tomorrow morning when the doors of the castle would be opened to slip out undetected. Harry walked past the wall three times thinking of the meeting place with Sirius. The door appeared and Harry went inside. He carefully closed the door silently and then took off his invisibility cloak.

"You're late, Harry." Sirius commented. "Did you have problems?"

"Not really, but the rat took forever to fall asleep. But once he was asleep I got everything done in a few minutes. Here is the container." He said yawning and gave Sirius the rat prison.

"Good work, Harry. How are you going to treat Ron about this? He will notice his pet is missing." Sirius asked.

"No, he won't. Transfiguring a stone to look like Scabbers, who died in his sleep, is easy. Easier than the rooster last year. It helps that he has been getting worse the whole year. Nothing will look strange. I'll be sympathetic but he will get over it. The only thing I'll have to do is stopping Hermione from being insensitive. The two were pretty stressed about their respective pets. Also, Ron's birthday is in March. I'll get him an owl as a present, then he will soon forget Scabbers." Harry answered.

"That will work. Well, you better get back to your dorm and get some sleep in. And be careful to avoid Filch, Snape and Mrs Norris." Sirius warned.

"Will do, goodnight, Sirius."

"Goodnight, Pup."

* * *

**And that takes care of Pettigrew. Sorry if some of you hoped that I would expose him, but I don't want Sirius to return to the magical communty as it would go against the role I have built for him in this story. Till next time.**


	5. Quidditch World Cup

**Hi, I'm back with the next chapter as announced. Hope you like it.**

* * *

**Quidditch World Cup**

"Ah, Sirius, good to see you. How is Harry?" M asked.

"He is well. I think he does not really believe that he didn't have to fight an overly strong opponent at the end of his school year. The two previous years that had always been the case. And his DADA Professor didn't try to kill or obliviate him. That is a major improvement. The teachers seem to have understood that he won't let them tell him what he has to do, grudgingly but they have accepted it. Well, I'm sure Dumbledore will try something sooner or later. The man just doesn't understand that his big plans aren't always the right way to do things. He is no warrior and only fights unwillingly.

"Even as the Death Eaters were killing people all over Great Britain he practically forbade us to strike back accordingly. His high moral codex is a problem for fighters. While I don't condone killing if it's avoidable, mass murderers are not redeemable. They need to be brought down with all force necessary. Sadly we were too young to truly understand war. We just followed Professor Dumbledore as he had been the one to bring down Gellert Grindelwald and we assumed he had the most experience how to deal with a dark lord."

"Yes, we are continuing to observe Dumbledore's activities. We don't want to risk a new conflict escalating as much as the previous one did. But I think the bigger problem will be how the Ministry of Magic will handle the situation. From Harry's reports of his years at Hogwarts and the confrontations with Voldemort, we can deduct that it won't take Voldemort forever to return to a body. He seems to know several ways to do it. By the way, our analysts have finished the tests on the diary Harry brought with him.

"The results are disquieting. From what they found out we are dealing with dark magic that most of our agents are not prepared to deal with. Thanks to you providing the whole Black library we know what we are dealing with. The diary was something called a horcrux, a soul container, which protects the creator of the thing from dying by normal means. It doesn't prolong the normal lifespan though, even if most dark wizards who built them obviously overlook that fact." M informed Sirius.

"Damn, that complicates the fight against the bastard. I assume he didn't even stop at one but made more?" Sirius asked.

"You're right. Obviously that was the reason your brother died. One of those things was hidden at your house. From your crazy old house elf we gathered that Regulus died getting the locket from a cave full of dead corpses in a lake, which is located in a cave by the sea. We also analysed the traces of the strength of the soul fragments. The diary had a stronger part, probably one half of his soul in it. The locket has about one sixteenth in it if we use the diary amount as the levelling board. We'll have to wait for Harry to return from school to destroy it though."

Sirius gave his superior a questioning look.

"We need to open the thing and it obviously needs a parselmouth to do so. The rest is somewhat easy. We have a good supply of basilisk venom thanks to Harry getting us into the chamber last summer holidays." M answered the look.

"Wait, when did that happen?" Sirius asked upset. "I had grounded him except for his training here at headquarters."

M just smiled.

"You remember your three week mission to Chile? We had him take us to Hogwarts while you were there. Callahan, Gus and Ilia were beyond impressed that Harry managed to kill that monster only with a sword."

"I know you're my boss, but you're undermining my authority with my godson, sir." Sirius grumbled.

"I want to remind you that you told Harry that he should listen to his trainers and superiors. While Harry is young, he is one of the best we have with magical abilities. That reminds me, I'll send Harry on a two weeks mission to France when he gets back from school. We have some contacts there that require the assistance of someone who isn't known in the scene yet. There are rumours about blood-diamonds being smuggled into England which are used to finance Theodore Raynold's activities. The man is one of the big fish operating in Africa. Here in England he appears to be a normal successful business man.

"But the man is known to support the uprisings in China. With Eastern Europe falling apart at the moment, China could become a problem if not handled properly. We had enough problems with the communistic regime in Russia for decades; we don't need another totalitarian regime taking its place. So the best way we can do this is cutting off illegal financers. I'll explain more when Harry returns." M stated.

Sirius nodded. He knew Harry was ready for a mission in France. The country itself was safe and at the moment Harry was only included in observation and information gathering. Bigger and more dangerous missions would wait until he was older and physically capable of doing them. Harry was strong for a thirteen year old boy, but against adult opponents with equally good training, he was chanceless.

"Are we going to do something regarding the rumours we heard about the Quidditch World Cup? Or are we going to let the Aurors handle it?" Sirius asked instead.

"A mixture of both. All our magical agents of high level will be present at the World Cup; yes, including you. Nobody knows how you look today and with a bit of good old make-up and hair dye nobody will recognize you. We'll have to see if Harry is invited by his friend Ron Weasley. If he isn't, we'll send him there with one of our other agents. But as the Weasleys owe Harry a debt for saving their daughter I can't imagine that Arthur Weasley wouldn't involve his son's best friend."

"True, Arthur is a good man. If you're sending all of our high-class magical agents there, we'll have sixteen there. That should be enough to stop any remaining Death Eaters from doing too much damage, if they really act out. After all they have tried really hard to make everybody believe that they were only controlled by Voldemort." Sirius commented already thinking about strategies.

"While that is true, I want to prevent a mass hysteria. With the wizarding population being mostly sheep that run at the slightest sign of danger, we need a quick response if something happens."

Sirius nodded. He knew M was right.

* * *

Sometimes Harry really questioned the sanity of the population of the wizarding world. First they can't organize a campsite. While there was no problem with using a muggle facility, it would have been easier to just include it in the area where muggles couldn't go. Or to send the manager of the campsite on a vacation using a weak compulsion charm. But logic and wizards mostly didn't mix well. Now the poor manager got obliviated so often that Harry feared for his brain after the World Cup was over.

Harry had been briefed on the possibility of Death Eater activity after he had returned from his mission to France. It had gone well. They got some information. The next part of taking Raynold out would be up to the higher ranking agents.

For this occasion Harry was to blend in with the masses, listen to conversations as much as possible without attracting attention, perhaps conversing with a few other teenagers from other countries. His newest language update was coming in handy. His repertoire now also included Spanish, Japanese, Latin and Russian. With the next one that was scheduled for the Christmas break he would get two magical languages. While Ron and Hermione had been bickering about the campsite, the competing Quidditch teams, other magical schools and so on, Harry had found a French boy and asked him if he was attending Beauxbatons, how he liked the school, which team he supported and so on.

It had been a nice conversation. Harry had found out that the boy's name was Francois Jardin and he was a seventh year at Beauxbatons. He would try to qualify for the delegation Beauxbatons would send to Hogwarts this year for the Triwizard Tournament that would be held there. This led to another discussion about the tournament, the great honour it meant to be chosen to represent one's school and the difficulty the tasks probably would present. Harry bid Francois goodbye and returned to his friends which were looking at him dumbfounded.

"Harry, where did you learn to speak French like that?" Hermione asked impressed.

"I needed something to do over the last two summer holidays while I wasn't visiting Ron." Harry waved the question off smiling. "And I'd have done everything to get out of the Dursleys'. There was an advertisement that offered lessons in French from a native speaker at my old primary school. Mr Jones, my favourite teacher from my primary school time, asked me if I'd be interested in joining and of course I agreed. The teacher was an old French woman who had moved to England to be near her daughter who had married an English business man. I found out that I learn languages easily. I'm near fluent in French now and am starting to learn German."

"Why did you never tell us?" Hermione more or less accused him.

"It never came up." Was Harry's answer.

Ron was okay with that. While he couldn't understand how somebody would willingly learn during the holidays, Harry was different as he needed all possibilities to get away from his horrible relatives.

"By the way, where have you been staying this summer?" Ron asked.

"The damned idiot of a headmaster still saw fit sending me back, but I mostly spend my time at Mrs Figg's, an old squib that lives in the neighbourhood, visiting nearby villages or at the library. After I told her that I knew that she was used to magic, I identified two of her cats as half-kneazles, she told me that she had been watching me for the headmaster to make sure I was safe. And her behaviour when I was at hers was to have the Dursleys allow it. Now it's nice to occasionally have tea with her. I don't understand why Dumbledore is allowed to decide over my life like that. He isn't my guardian, just my headmaster. This means the only power he has over me is connected to school. But I also made some trips to London." Harry explained.

It was true; he had been over to Mrs Figg's to strengthen the illusion that he was still living in Little Whinging. With having identified Arabella Figg as a squib MI6 had decided that making her believe that he was still living in the neighbourhood was a smart idea. He had used the time to subtly get some more information out of her. Knowing what the headmaster was up to was a good thing. She didn't know much, but any information could become useful in the right circumstances.

"Isn't that dangerous to go alone?" Hermione asked.

"Why should it be? I'm not five, I'm fourteen. Visiting London during day-time is perfectly safe. And you would understand me better if you spent just one hour in the company of my relatives."

Harry knew that principally it was wrong lying to his friends but he didn't want anybody finding out that he wasn't living in Little Whinging anymore. He had had to quickly organize with the Weasleys that he would travel to the Burrow with the Knight Bus instead of them getting him when Ron had sent the message that his dad had the tickets for the World Cup finals. He would go to the Weasleys the day before the match and stay there for the rest of the holidays. He argued that the Dursleys hated everything about magic and it would be less stressful if he came over that way. It was safer that way. Nobody could know about his training. And Hermione knew better than to try and convince him that Dumbledore had his best interest at heart. That argument, she knew, she couldn't win. Not that she really believed it anymore as well. Not after last year.

* * *

The match had been great. And Harry had a lot of fun making the Minister of Magic squirm. He was perfectly polite but Fudge knew very well, that Harry hadn't forgotten the fiasco with the dementors last year. Harry had the distinct impression that the Bulgarian Minister for Magic understood English, but let Fudge make a fool of himself. Harry perfectly understood the comments the Minister was making and was laughing at the inside. But having the Boy-Who-Lived in the top box was good for Fudge's publicity. And he needed the boy being on good terms; after all he had just about terminated the whole political career of Dolores Umbridge at the end of the school year. And he didn't want the boy speaking out against him before the elections were over. And that would be in eleven months.

How could they have known that Harry Potter was close to the werewolf Remus Lupin? The new law that prohibited werewolves from having jobs in places of public interest seemed like a really good idea. Lucius had also approved the law. But then Dolores had found out the hard way that you didn't cross Harry Potter. How the boy had found so much information on Ministry employees was a mystery.

* * *

Flashback

The Great Hall was buzzing with excitement. It was the leaving feast and everybody was looking forward to seeing their families again. Suddenly the doors swung open and a woman toad hybrid, as far as Harry was concerned, strutted along the aisle between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. She was accompanied by two other typical snobby looking bureaucrats.

"So sorry to interrupt the feast headmaster, but we have an issue to deal with. You see a new law has been passed by the Wizengamot in the last meeting and it concerns one of your teachers." She said with a fake sweet voice.

Harry could see Dumbledore's brow furrowing. He obviously didn't like where this was going. Then his eye fell on Professor Lupin, who looked resigned. Oh no, the toad woman wouldn't get away with making Professor Lupin's life hell.

"You see, the Wizengamot passed a bill that werewolves can't keep positions that are in places of public interest, this means your employee Remus Lupin will have to leave immediately." The woman simpered in a false sweet tone.

Uproar followed this declaration. Harry had enough. While he was more a warrior than a politician, he had enough dirt on the Ministry to make this woman rue the day she went against one of the few adults Harry really trusted and respected. He fired a cannonball spell into the air, which silenced everybody immediately and stood up from his table, slowly walking up to the stunned woman. It seemed he had taken lessons from Professor Snape in making his robe billow behind him. His whole appearance screamed power and fury.

"So you think it was a good idea to aggravate the werewolves even more than they already are, Madam Umbridge. You and your small-minded idiot friends have just helped Voldemort's case. When he comes back, he will just collect those who think our Ministry is just out to harm them." He said, using a similar voice like Snape in his classes, making the whole Great Hall go silent, which was a major feat. His glare was also really intimidating and he could see the two men starting to sweat. He then suddenly turned around to face the students. "Alright, I'd like everybody who had already figured out that Professor Lupin is a werewolf to raise his or her hand." Harry yelled to the other students in the Great Hall.

Umbridge tried to say something, but Harry just cast a silencing spell on her.

"You're not asked to tell your opinion. I'll deal with you later. I'll just prove my cause." Harry said dismissively.

Everybody had the distinct impression that Harry was the king of a country and Umbridge a misbehaving subject that he was making an example of. He emitted an aura of power and knowledge nobody had seen him producing before. And there also was a taint of ruthlessness that made many shudder, being glad he didn't target them with his obvious anger.

The results of Harry's question were surprising for some students. From the seventh years, two Gryffindors, all the Ravenclaws, three Hufflepuffs and one Slytherin raised their hands. The sixth year Ravenclaws also all raised their hands, two Hufflepuffs and one Gryffindor. From the fifth years, the Weasley twins raised their hands as well as Lee Jordan, half of Ravenclaw, one Slytherin and one Hufflepuff. No fourth years knew but Harry and Hermione had their hands up for the third years. It was more than anybody would have thought.

"So, we have the whole two final years of Ravenclaw, the house that is known for being really smart, knowing about Professor Lupin's furry little problem. Let me tell you all some facts about werewolves to get some fairy tales, which a majority of the wizarding world still believes in, out of your heads. The transformation from a human into a werewolf happens on the day of the full moon. The werewolf is not in control of the transformation contrary to the animagus transformation. As anybody, who even paid little attention at Astronomy, knows, full moon is once a month. So approximately twelve to thirteen times a year one suffering from lycanthropy is forced to transform into a dangerous creature."

Harry while walking up and down in front of the head table looked over the students, who all listened intently to his speech.

"Does anybody think the Ravenclaws would have kept this a secret if they thought that Professor Lupin posed a threat to us students? While Professor Dumbledore's actions regarding the safety of the school haven't always been sufficient, do you think he would knowingly and wilfully endanger us? The answer to both questions is no. Well, a transformation out of control would be the case for Professor Lupin if there wasn't the little fact that two years ago a potion called wolfsbane has been developed that allows the werewolf to keep his human mind during the transformation.

"Next question. Who doubts Professor Snape's abilities as a potion master?" Harry asked, getting not one raised hand.

"I thought so. While Professor Snape and I will never like each other…" Harry got mirthful laughter for that comment, everybody knew about their mutual hatred, "…I know that you don't earn the mastery in Potions without being the best. And being a master at Professor Snape's age is even more impressive. Most earn that status after they turn forty. I know for a fact that Professor Snape has been brewing wolfsbane for Professor Lupin the whole year, therefore ensuring the safety of everybody at Hogwarts. So freaking out about the first competent DADA teacher we ever had since I started here is unnecessary and utterly ridiculous."

"He is just a foul half-breed." Umbridge shouted, having had lifted the silencing spell by one of her companions.

Harry shot another silencing spell at her and hit her point blank. Then he put the same spell on the other two.

"Didn't your parents teach you that interrupting somebody while he is speaking is really rude, Madam Umbridge? I thought the pureblood high society was always going on about proper mannerisms. Neville my friend, what would your grandmother do to you if you used that kind of language and behaved like that?" Harry asked kindly.

"She would wash my mouth with soap, tell me off for a while and send me to my room without dinner for interrupting somebody speaking. If I dared to use that kind of language I'd probably get spanked regardless my age." Neville answered shuddering; the reaction was shared by other children from pureblood families.

Harry smiled. He was skilfully tearing Umbridge's whole plan apart. When he was finished with her, she would be politically dead.

"From the reactions you all had it's obvious to me that proper mannerisms are something Madam Umbridge has yet to learn. But, as she is so fond of revealing other people's secrets, why don't I tell you some of her secrets?" Harry asked, his evil grin sending cold waves down the spines of Umbridge, Dumbledore and especially Snape, who was reminded of James Potter.

"Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic. Born December 30th 1943. Parents Aloysius Ranatos Umbridge and Felicity Evelyn Umbridge nee Rosier. Graduated from Hogwarts in 1961 with no mark higher than A in her NEWTs in Charms, Herbology, History of Magic, Astronomy and Potions. Failed her OWLs in Defence against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes. Entered the Ministry of Magic in a low position at the Department of Magical Transportation. Through intrigues and denunciation of her co-workers she slowly rose through the ranks.

"Her final rise was bound to the rise of Cornelius Fudge, our current Minister of Magic. She disposed of his political opponents in different ways. After the scandal of Barty Crouch's son being found a Death Eater, she made sure everybody knew what a disgrace had befallen the house of Crouch. Syntario Deston, another potential candidate for the position of Minister was forced to stay at home to care for his ill wife during the election period. Curiously Mrs Deston had been perfectly healthy until she had tea with Dolores Umbridge. I could list four other examples for that but I think I'd just bore you all." Harry commented offhandedly.

"From the time she became Undersecretary to the Minister she went on a crusade against magical creatures and what she regarded as magical creatures. I'd guess there was a connection to her failed OWL in the subject. Magical creatures never liked her. From the old reports from Professor Kettleburn's predecessor, she had absolutely no aptitude for the subject and he didn't understand why she didn't change her elective."

Umbridge was pale now. How did that boy know all of that? She had made sure that nobody knew those facts.

"To answer that question we have to go back in history a bit. The Umbridge family originates from the Selwyn family. The Selwyns were famous for their magical creature farms. Some of the products used for high quality clothes, were produced by magical creatures the Selwyns successfully bred. So imagine the shame that a daughter of house Selwyn was useless with magical creatures. More, that she was a mediocre witch and that muggleborns were doing better in class than her, a pureblood. Her family called her a disgrace and she began hating everything related to magical creatures and muggleborns. She blamed them for her failures, unable to face her own shortcomings. So all there is to this anti-magical creature campaign of hers is resentment against her own failure."

The Great Hall was silent. Many glared at the petty woman. To go that far just because she had been ridiculed by her family when she was young? That was against the pureblood code.

Umbridge looked like she wanted to disappear into the ground. How did that horrible boy know all of this? She felt the silencing spell being lifted from her.

"So, now that I have presented my part, etiquette demands to give you the opportunity to defend yourself against my accusations. But you should know that I have triple checked my information. I'm not of Black descent for nothing." Harry said casually.

All eyes were upon him now.

"How are you related to the Blacks?" Draco Malfoy sneered.

"Your mother's aunt, dear cousin, one Dorea Black, married my grandfather Charlus Potter. While my grandmother never really was into the whole pureblood supremacy argument, she knew how to use information to her advantage. She was a Slytherin after all."

That comment shocked many but they got over it quickly.

"How the hell didn't you end up in Slytherin, Potter?" Blaise Zabini asked.

Many Slytherins wanted to know that too. This year Potter had shown the best traits Slytherins were famous for.

"I asked the Sorting Hat to be placed anywhere but there. I didn't want to share a dorm with Malfoy. He reminds me too much of my horrible cousin Dudley." Harry said offhandedly.

That shocked many students and Malfoy got massive glares from his house-mates. They lost the chance to have someone as powerful as Harry Potter in their house because he had acted like a spoilt brat.

"I could really have landed both in Gryffindor or Slytherin. My refusal to go there was the deciding factor. Some members of your house should remember that being a Slytherin doesn't mean they can bully other students though. It's about being cunning and ambitious. Just a suggestion." Harry said pointedly looking at some members of the house whom he had humiliated throughout the year for bullying younger students.

After his tearing apart of Umbridge nobody wanted to get on his bad side. A Gryffindor with Slytherin traits was a frightening opponent.

"You're just a liar. Nothing what you said is true. The dark Lord is dead, everybody knows that!" Umbridge yelled, clinging to the one thing she thought would make Harry been seen as a liar.

"Ah, there you're mistaken. He may not have a body at the moment, but he lives as a wraith. If Professor Dumbledore would agree to let us borrow his pensieve in his office I'll gladly show you my memories from my first year, where I faced Voldemort, who had possessed Professor Quirrell. At the moment he is weak and no immediate danger, but I fear he will find a way back into a body. It would be best if you reported to the Minister to have him prepare for the time it happens." Harry calmly said, convincing most students of his statement.

Others questioned their friends what a pensieve was. Then everybody turned back looking at Harry.

"But then again, you, Madam Umbridge will not have your position much longer. I have had it with corrupt politicians. I have had it with discrimination of people who have already suffered enough in their lives. Who do you think the Minister will sacrifice to stay in office? Do you really think he would protect you against my accusations, which I can prove to the last detail? I don't need to invent lies like a certain blond reporter. Who opposes me will fall by the truth. And my grandmother was really thorough in collecting information. And I inherited her talent." Harry hit the last nail in the proverbial coffin of Dolores Umbridge.

Everybody understood the barely concealed threat. Harry Potter had started collecting information on them all and if they got him mad, he would use it against them. They had just witnessed how he would destroy a person who went against his code of honour. Nobody wanted to be in the same situation Umbridge had been in. Their lives and lies laid bared open in front of the whole Great Hall. No, Harry Potter was someone you didn't want to have as an enemy. They would do their best to gain him as an ally. That was healthier.

Dumbledore looked troubled but Harry couldn't care less. Umbridge was finished. He had torn her apart in front of masses of witnesses. And he would get the Wizengamot to remove that stupid law. Nobody crossed certain lines and got away with it. The Potter family had through inheritance seven seats at the Wizengamot. If he asked Sirius to activate his nine seats from the Black family no bill would be passed without their consent. And Harry had the perfect person to be proxy for the seats. He was sure she would be delighted to take the job.

Flashback end

* * *

Harry just enjoyed the match. It was spectacular what kind of moves the Irish chasers were able to pull off. And Viktor Krum was a class of his own as seeker. Harry would really have liked to try competing against him sometime. The conclusion was something only Fred and George had foreseen. Ireland won but Krum got the snitch. Harry got a good laugh when the Bulgarian Minister revealed that he understood English and had made a fool of Fudge the whole day.

The best part was when he got to briefly talk with the Minister and the Bulgarian team after the congratulations had been exchanged. The Minister had obviously noticed that Harry understood Bulgarian and questioned him about it. Harry just said he was full of surprises and that certain events would make his skill with languages very useful the coming year. It cemented the rumours the Bulgarian Minister had heard about the boy. The boy was really good at information gathering and understood when to use it. Fudge just gaped at Harry Potter fluently conversing with the man who had made a fool of him the whole day. It just showed that the Boy-Who-Lived was again one step ahead of the Minister of Magic.

* * *

In the evening Harry secretly met with John Ferguson to get an update on the current situation. He was informed that ten presumed Death Eaters were meeting at the Malfoys' tent and drinking a lot of alcohol. That didn't sound good in Harry's opinion. So he went to sleep on alert with his wand strapped to his wrist like it had been the whole day. A few hours into the night he and the others were called out by Mr Weasley. Harry saw the flames and the floating people. He looked around and got orders in sign language from a fellow agent to keep the youths running into the forest safe.

Harry took command and coordinated the escape of all the children he spotted into the forest.

"Fred, George, take your wands out and gather as many of the frightened children around you as you can and lead them to safety. Forget the underage restriction this is an emergency. We have to make sure nobody is left behind or injured. This is the wrong time to panic."

The force in Harry's voice got Fred and George into action and they did what Harry told them to do.

"Hermione, take Ron and Ginny and find a secluded place where we can assemble all those we can find. Be ready to fix small injuries like sprained ankles and cuts. If we do this right, we should be able to keep it at that. Use _lumos_ to light the paths, we can't afford stumbling through the darkness. We leave the Death Eaters for the aurors. They are trained for these situations." Harry commanded.

"Yes, Harry." Hermione answered and had Ron and Ginny cast _lumos_ to lighten their path.

Harry looked around. It seemed that the aurors were doing a good job getting the Death Eaters. He gathered another group of children around his lit wand and led them to the forest, making sure they didn't panic. He reached a clearing where Hermione was bandaging a teenager's foot and Ginny was treating small cuts others had. All in all with Fred, George and other older teens standing guard, it looked like an organized retreat.

Harry then overheard a small girl crying that her older brother was missing. Harry's blood froze when he also heard that the boy was only nine. The girl perhaps six.

"Where did you see your brother last time?" He asked the girl.

"We ran into the forest. But Michael was rushed away with some others; I think they ran that way deeper into the woods." She answered sobbing.

"Were older boys or girls with them?" Harry asked, forcefully keeping his voice calm.

The little girl shook her head. Harry nodded.

"I'll go and look for them." He said to the girl, which made her smile and hug him.

Harry stood up after she let him go and told Hermione, Ron and Ginny what was happening.

"I'll go deeper into the woods to find the missing children. They are too young to look out for themselves." He told them.

"But Harry, that's dangerous." Hermione protested.

"It can't be helped. I need you to keep everybody who is here calm. I'll take two of the older guys with me. You stay here." He said.

Harry went to get his support before Hermione could protest any more. He found his back up in Francois, the French teen he had talked to earlier that day and a sixth year Hufflepuff boy called Richard. They went into the direction the girl had pointed at.

"This is a problem, we can't see far enough, even with _lumos_ spells." Richard complained.

"You're right; we need a more powerful light. Well, not exactly what it's meant for but I think the children will be able to find us with it. _Expecto Patronum._" Harry cast.

A silver shining stag erupted from Harry's wand.

"Wow, you really didn't joke when you said you had learned to deal with dementors." Richard said stunned.

Francois just nodded appreciatively. The silver stag illuminated a bigger area of the forest. Then the boys saw a spell being fired into the air, building a snake head.

"Damn, that is the Dark Mark; we have to get to the place it had been cast." Harry said urgently gesturing in the direction of the mark.

The other two nodded. Harry knew that Francois at least understood the basics of English so he wasn't forced to translate it to French. All three ran into the direction of the mark. They found a group of adults surrounding four little children that seemed totally frightened. One of the adults was shouting at the children demanding answers. Harry immediately recognized Barty Crouch.

He stepped through the adults and knelt next to the four kids. They looked like they were about to have full blown panic attacks.

"Hey, is one of you Michael?" He asked completely ignoring the adults.

"I, I'm Michael." A blond boy said.

"Nice to meet you. Your sister Anne told us you were separated when you fled into the forest. We went looking for you to get you back to them." Harry kindly smiled at them, getting them to calm down a bit.

Harry's patronus stood calmly next to Harry giving of a warm light in the dark. All the children's eyes were fixated at it.

"Who do you think you are?" Crouch bellowed.

"Harry Potter." Harry calmly answered getting gasps from some adults.

The children looked at him with big eyes.

"So, are you okay or are any of you injured?" Harry asked.

"My foot hurts." A brown haired girl said.

"My arm hurts." The other black haired girl told him.

The boys shook their heads.

"Alright, I'll take you to a good friend of mine; she is treating others who were a bit unlucky to get hurt in all the chaos too. I'm sure some healers will also soon be there. And I think your parents will find you there easier than in the woods. What do you think; would you like to get a piggy-back ride with Francois?" He asked the brown haired girl.

"He is really strong and you don't have to put weight on your foot." The girl nodded relieved.

Harry looked at Michael who seemed to be the oldest one of the children.

"Now, Michael, I know you're very afraid, but we'll need some information what happened here. Could you please tell us what you have seen or heard? The thing in the sky is really bad and we need to find the one who shot it there."

Many of the adults finally understood Harry's intention and berated themselves for losing control like they did.

Michael looked in the green eyes of this hero he had heard so many stories about and nodded.

"We got lost in the forest. We met some older girls but we didn't understand them, they went away after that. Then we found this clearing and Mary couldn't walk anymore with her foot hurting. We didn't know what to do and just stayed here, hoping that somebody would find us. Then a man said something like one of the spells mum uses at home but different. Then that thing in the sky appeared, many pops came from around us and then red light flew over our heads. Then the weird man began shouting until you came." He said pointing at Crouch.

"Preposterous, they have to have something to do with it." An irate man shouted.

Harry identified him as one of the men who had accompanied Umbridge to Hogwarts.

"Mr Mavior, I'd refrain from spouting nonsense if I were you. These children are nine years at most; they haven't even started Hogwarts yet. They don't have wands. None of them could have been able to cast the Dark Mark. If I were you I'd look if your stunners hit something over there. And don't only look for what you can see but also things that are hidden. A disillusionment charm isn't that hard to cast. Any graduate from Hogwarts who took NEWTs in Charms would be able to do it." Harry said coldly, making many in the adult group shiver.

Rumours about the leaving feast at Hogwarts had spread around and now nobody wanted to be at the wrong side of Harry Potter's ire. Amos Diggory followed by Arthur Weasley went to do just that. Sadly they came up with nothing.

"There are traces of an apparition. They escaped before we arrived." Arthur told them.

"That's unfortunate. Well I suggest we help the children get medical attention and see if there is something we need to do for those who are at the place Potter spoke about." Crouch said, trying to take control of the situation.

Harry motioned Richard to take the other girl piggy back while he took the youngest boy. Michael, when he was asked, got a ride with Arthur Weasley. Harry, Francois and Richard led the adults that followed them, including Arthur Weasley, Amos Diggory and Francis Hamilton to the clearing where they had assembled all the children they had found. Harry's stag patronus was still spending light.

The sight greeting them was relieving. Obviously some adults had found the group and some with medical abilities were treating those who needed help. One witch was talking to Hermione to get more information.

"Harry!" Hermione called out happily.

"Hey, Hermione, did everything go well here? We found four kids; two of them need medical attention. One of the two girls riding on Francois' and Richards' backs has an injured foot and the other hurt her arm." Harry answered not wanting to speak about the Dark Mark in the company of small children.

"You organized this?" Amos Diggory asked impressed.

"Yes, the older teens assembled the smaller children around them and lit the way with _lumos_ charms. This way we were able to prevent more injuries. We tried our best to keep everybody calm. This clearing was the first we found far enough away from the commotion but not too far away for somebody to get quick help if necessary. We didn't know when we came here if there were injuries that needed a healer."

"Impressive. By the way how come you're able to cast a patronus charm and keep it active for such a long time, Mr Potter?" Francis Hamilton asked.

"I learned the charm last year from Professor Lupin to defend myself against the dementors that were stationed around Hogwarts. I have bad reactions if I come near one of the foul beasts." Harry answered truthfully. "And keeping it active if no dementors are around isn't that hard once you have mastered the spell."

"Very impressive, especially for a wizard your age. Well, I'll apparate back to the camp and see if we can let the children go back or if it would be better to keep them here." He told the group.

Arthur and Amos nodded. They would follow him as enough adults were already looking after the children and the older teens seemed to have everything under control.

* * *

**And done. My longest chapter in this story so far. Thanks to all the reviewers again.**


	6. Goblet of Fire

**Hi everybody, here is chapter six. Thanks for all your reviews. As a general comment to some reviewers, I ignore insulting comments. I take constructive critics of my writing serious as I know that I can always improve. My native language isn't English but German, so I know that I lack some insights to others that live in England, America, Australia or other countries where English is spoken daily. **

**Now happy reading, I hope you like the chapter.**

* * *

**Goblet of Fire**

Harry sat at a meeting room of the MI6 headquarters. They were discussing the attack at the Quidditch World Cup. Due to him being massively involved in the events he was allowed to attend the meeting with the adult agents.

"Alright. Everybody is here. I'm happy to say that our precautions at the Quidditch World Cup probably saved many lives. We captured seven Death Eaters. While they may claim that they were controlled by the one who cast the mark of the self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort into the sky and the idiotic Minister of Magic Fudge is willing to be bribed like always we have one big advantage. That advantage is Agent Potter's position in the magical world.

"He has already given several interviews, making sure to have the journalists swear to report truthfully, which have the public enraged that teenagers were the ones that had to act mature because most of the adults lost their heads. If Fudge tries to get his financial backers out of punishment, he will commit political suicide. Which he won't risk. From our spies at the Ministry we know that this year the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts to promote international cooperation.

"That's Fudge's last real chance to sway public opinion. He's up for election in early summer. His political standing has suffered because Agent Potter installed a proxy to vote his and Agent Black's seats at the Wizengamot and voided the law against werewolves. We have already used the opportunity to contract three of the acclimated werewolves for our forces. Their enhanced strength and senses even without being transformed is great in our line of work. As they are mostly isolated in the community nobody will miss them, when they do missions for us.

"We also hired a Swedish potion master for our forces that is tasked with supplying enough wolfsbane potion for them all; next to developing other potions for our department. Once they finish special training, they will be able to work using the effects of the potion to the full benefit."

Many agents nodded approvingly. They had read reports about the strength werewolves had. Being able to use this strength for the good of their country was a good thing. And there were enough terrorists to deal with out in the world. Somehow every time they crushed one, a new one came up.

"At the moment nobody at the Ministry of Magic has realized that the additional aurors weren't their own men, there was too much confusion. If the wizards had been left to their own devices the Death Eaters would have probably escaped. I'm really satisfied with that part of the mission. Agent Potter, good work on minimizing the casualties. Your example and leadership helped with damage control and prevented hysteria with the younger people."

Harry nodded towards M. His part had been small but important.

"Now we have just one thing that is troubling, the Dark Mark in the sky. It wasn't connected to the Death Eaters that acted out; they got more disorganized after it appeared. So there is another player out there we don't know about yet. I want Team Gamma to start an investigation on all known Death Eaters, all who are unaccounted for and all the ones who died at Azkaban. Something is fishy. And if we don't dig this out to the bottom, we might get nasty surprises."

Team Gamma nodded confirming the order.

"Now, for the coming year at Hogwarts I want Agents Potter and Sinistra to get as much information as possible on the guests from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. You'll be supported from Hogsmeade. You'll be informed which agent will meet you there on short notice. Agent Sinistra, keep continuing diverting any suspicion about Agent Potter being more than he appears to be. We still haven't found a way for him to have an excuse for excessive training. If they would allow underage wizards to enter the tournament, I'd say that would be our opportunity, but the participants have to be off age." M explained.

"Do you know how the participants in the tournament are chosen, sir?" Harry asked.

"They use an ancient artefact called the Goblet of Fire. The goblet itself doesn't distinguish between the competitors for the three spots of champion, but you can be sure after the disasters Dumbledore had to deal with the last years he will find a way to prevent underage students from entering."

* * *

Harry sat at the stairs around the hall where the Goblet of Fire was positioned. The tournament would be great to compete in. He needed a way to up his official level. But at the moment he enjoyed the entertainment Fred and George Weasley presented. Their attempt to fool the age line was amusing. If they wanted to fool the precautions, they had to do it the muggle way. No magical hoax would be able to pass the line. Harry decided to make a little visit to the hospital wing.

"Do you want to know how you can fool the age line?" He asked the twins seriously.

"You know how to do it?" They asked astonished.

"It's obvious that Dumbledore thought of all ways to prevent magical ways, the easiest way is mostly the one not to be thought of. You can't cross the line; it's probably bound to the trace; that would take care of all underage wizards and witches being kept out. But paper doesn't have a trace. Or an older student. Just some ideas. But if I were you, I'd seriously think about the risk being worth the prize. But you're the ones who have to decide. Bye."

Harry left two shocked red haired twins who thought how obvious those solutions were.

* * *

The names were about to come out of the goblet. Harry hadn't entered his name. It would put him into a bad position. He needed a clean image for some time. If he couldn't enter legally it wasn't worth the risk. They would have to find another way for Harry showing off more abilities in his magic than just now. M had also ordered him not to use any of the loopholes they had found in the security measures.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour." Dumbledore announced.

The part Veela stood and gracefully walked past the head-table into the chamber behind it.

"The champion for Durmstrang is Viktor Krum." The next champion was announced.

After much applause and praise from Igor Karkaroff, one ex-Death Eater, whom he and his contact to the MI6 headquarters through the year, Aurora Sinistra the Astronomy teacher, had orders to observe and investigate closely, all students waited with baited breaths for the Hogwarts champion to be chosen.

"The champion for Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory." Dumbledore said and the Hufflepuff table broke into applause. Cedric shook several hands smiling before joining the other champions.

Just when Dumbledore was about to conclude the ceremony a fourth piece of parchment shot out of the goblet.

"Harry Potter." Dumbledore said, genuinely shocked and surprised this time.

"Just un-fucking-believable." Harry groaned.

Well this could work out to his advantage. If he did this right. He needed to destroy any doubt he had entered himself into the tournament right now before it took hold. He knew the students too well to trust them thinking things through this time.

He walked up to the head table and cast a sonorous charm on himself.

"Ok, I know this looks like I cheated but I didn't enter my name into the goblet. I'll admit I knew how it would have probably been possible to enter my name, like if I asked an older student or just aimed well and threw the piece of parchment into the goblet. But you have to consider one thing. I was called out as a fourth champion. Cedric Diggory was chosen as the Hogwarts champion. While I may be smart enough to find a way to enter my name despite the age line, which I'll swear a magical oath if necessary that I didn't do it, I have no clue how it's possible that I was chosen as a fourth champion." Harry informed the whole audience.

Many were stunned at this speech. They began to think properly and had to admit that he was right. Many students were berating themselves for not thinking of those obvious methods to cheat the age line.

"I'd really like it if you could just leave me alone. I don't expect for you to support me in the tournament if the officials can't find a way for me to get out, with Professor Dumbledore telling us that a binding magical contract was made when the name was entered, I doubt that, but I'd like if you didn't shun me for something I had no hand in. I had enough of that my second year. _Quietus_."

Harry went past the head table and went into the antechamber.

He was met with surprised faces.

"What are you doing here, Harry?" Cedric asked.

"My annual crash with insufficient security measures, Cedric." Harry sighed. "Somebody really wants me in this tournament and somehow made the goblet shoot out my name as a fourth champion. I already set the Great Hall straight that I didn't enter the Tournament. I knew how to do it, but I'll swear an oath to prove that I didn't if it becomes necessary. Sorry for stealing some of your spotlight. I already have enough on my own."

The three other champions were stunned by this declaration. None of them made any comment. If a wizard was ready to swear a magical oath he had to tell the truth. There was no way around it, even if the story was just unbelievable. Then the three headmasters came into the chamber, discussing loudly and were accompanied by Professors Moody and Snape, Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch.

"So any new ideas how my name came out as a fourth champion? By the way, Professor Dumbledore, you really need to better think your safety measures through." Harry said resigned.

His attitude didn't sit right with Snape of course.

"Potter, how dare you speak with the headmaster like that?" He sneered.

Harry raised his eyebrow.

"Perhaps because this is the fourth year in a row he messed up keeping me safe? I'm fourteen years old; these three are three years older than me. They have three years more of education on me. While you still stubbornly believe that I'm an arrogant, attention seeking brat because you can't distinguish between my father and me and abuse your power as a teacher each potions lesson to bully me, I'm not suicidal." Harry gave back.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor, Potter, how dare you speak to me like that?" Snape barked.

"I want to borrow your pensieve, headmaster. I'll submit all my memories of Professor Snape's lessons from the first one to the one last Monday. I can prove my statement." Harry calmly said.

"That won't be necessary, Harry." Dumbledore quickly said.

"Typical, hushing up the truth. Like every other year. You always take the side that is harming me, why would it be different now? You say you're trying to protect me, but your actions tell the opposite. So what do you intend to do now?" He asked addressing Barty Crouch.

Dumbledore was stumped. That wasn't what he did, or was it?

"Well, Mr Potter, even if you didn't enter your name, the contract made with the Goblet of Fire is binding. There is no way out. You'll have to compete to the best of your abilities." He said.

"Great, Professor Moody, you're a retired auror, do you have any idea how this mess could have been made possible?" Harry angrily now addressed his DADA teacher.

"I'd guess a really powerful confundus charm was used. Otherwise the fourth champion isn't possible to explain. Nothing a student even a powerful seventh year would be able to do. I'll see to it that this is thoroughly investigated, Potter, you have my word." Moody promised.

"Better than nothing." Harry mumbled.

"Well, to the formalities. The first task is designed to test your daring, so we'll not tell you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard … very important … The first task will take place on November 24th. The students are not allowed to ask for or accept any kind of help from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. You'll face the first challenge armed only with your wand. Information about the second task will be revealed when the first task is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the Tournament, the champions are exempted from the end of year tests." Crouch said and then turned to Dumbledore.

"I think that is all, or can you think of something else, Albus?" Crouch asked.

"No, I think, you covered everything, Barty. Well, it's getting late; I think it's time to return to your common rooms or accommodations." He said.

* * *

Harry and Cedric went part of the way together.

"I'm curious, Harry, why are you taking this so calmly?" Cedric asked.

"I'm anything but. I just hope my declaration in the Great Hall was enough to stop a repeat of my second year. I'll be honest, if I had been of age, I'd have entered my name on my own. But now, I'm at a massive disadvantage against you three. I just think panicking will just harm me. I'll have to work something out to survive this. Too bad I can't ask any teacher for help. Moody would have been a fountain of information and spells."

"Still resenting the other teachers?" Cedric asked.

"It's really hard not to do so. You have seen Snape. He hates me just because of a student rivalry with my father. From what Professor Lupin, who was a close friend of my father, told me last year, both parties were at fault. Professor Snape just happened to be on his own when he tried something. It's despicable that a teacher isn't capable of showing professionalism. I don't ask the man to like me, it would just be nice not to be singled out and insulted because he hated my father, who is long dead. Then Dumbledore failed again to keep my out of danger. He also refuses to take any action on my complaints against Snape's behaviour. Professor McGonagall didn't really believe my words in the hall, I can read her face by now. And she is my head of house.

"Professor Sprout is somewhat resentful because of the one-time her house is getting massive positive attention, something happens to steal it away. The other teachers are more or less just guilty by doing nothing. I just don't trust them to help me anymore. It's not like I don't listen to them in class. If I didn't have Hermione as a best friend I'd have failed Potions all the years. I pass the final tests alright because nobody can sabotage me there. But all my marks under the year are a result of Snape distracting me from concentrating on the instructions, or the Slytherins throwing wrong ingredients in my potions. And nobody bothers changing the set-up of the lessons. It's common knowledge that Slytherins and Gryffindors don't get along. But our dear headmaster puts us together every year in one of the most dangerous subjects." Harry complained.

"I have never thought about it like that. You have a point. I just didn't realize it as we have Potions with Ravenclaw and it never arts out like that." Cedric admitted.

They reached the point where Harry had to go up to Gryffindor tower and Cedric to take the corridor past the kitchens.

"Well, good luck, Harry. I'll make sure that even the thickheads in my house won't give you problems." Cedric promised.

"Thanks, Cedric. Well, good luck to you too."

Both boys went to their common rooms.

* * *

Agent Aurora Sinistra stood in M's office. Somehow the leader of MI6 couldn't stop grinning.

"This is just perfect. Without our interference Potter gets to participate in the tournament and nobody will question him when he starts training like crazy. Very well. Agent Sinistra, you'll secretly point him to the best books the Hogwarts library has to offer to help him preparing. We can't take a chance of him being found out. And organize for him getting a pass for the restricted section. We can get a lot of knowledge from those books.

"This will be a perfect test for Agent Potter's abilities. We'll see if he is ready to participate in higher ranked missions after the Tournament. Inform Potter, that he has to go all out to win this tournament. Nobody will ask him why he can do certain things now."

"Understood, sir." Aurora answered before leaving the office.

M pushed a button on his desk to call his secretary.

"Miss Moneypenny, get me Team Delta into my office in fifteen minutes." He ordered.

"Yes, sir." Came the answer.

* * *

Harry meanwhile sat in the Gryffindor common with Hermione and Ron, looking through spellbooks.

"Do we have to do this now?" Ron complained about the amount of books that lay on the table in front of them.

"Yes, we do!" Hermione answered. "Harry is at a disadvantage with the other three champions being three years older than him. He only has until November 24th to at least catch up a bit. So we need to find useful spells as soon as possible so he can practice them. As we don't know what the task will be about, we need to cover a wide spectrum." She said bossily.

"I think we are doing this the wrong way." Harry said. "I won't get up to the level of the other three in just three weeks. We should research the Tournament in itself and what kind of tasks there were in the past. Perhaps there are similarities in all the Tournaments."

"A good idea, Harry, but we should also look up useful spells." Hermione insisted.

"Of course we'll look up spells. But it would make more sense if we had a clue which kinds of spells would be best to learn. For example it wouldn't make any sense to learn a flame freezing charm if I had to get something from the lake for example. While it would be a useful spell to know in other situations, it would be useless in an environment of water where I'd be better off with a means to breathe underwater or know about how to battle water creatures. Or if they sent us into the forest. There I would need to know how to get rid of Hagrid's pets. After the first task we can branch out. But for now I need to find out what I could be facing. They said the task is about testing our courage, so we'll face something that frightens most wizards. What could that be?" Harry said.

They began making a list and then enlisted Neville, who had offered his help with research, the twins, just the best minds to think out of the box, and Ginny to look up books about the things they thought of and about the Tournament in general.

* * *

Rita Skeeter had made a grave mistake. She had written an article that showed Harry Potter in a false light. She didn't expect to be the recipient of masses of howlers. Normally only people she wrote about got howlers from her enraged readers. What the hell was going on? She had written that Potter was just an attention seeking brat that had cheated his way into the Tournament.

He had denied her an interview before the wand weighing ceremony. Flat out denied her, Rita Skeeter. She never let something like that go. But now she was at the receiving end of hate mail. How she dared to spread those lies about that nice boy. Or that she should just give up writing as she clearly was unsuited to be a real journalist. The worst part was that her editor had put her on probation. He didn't want to be the next one Harry Potter socially killed.

He had asked her if she had been on vacation for the past half a year. Everybody knew how Harry Potter had destroyed Dolores Umbridge's political and social career and had been the hero of the riot at the Quidditch World Cup for organizing a safe retreat of all the children that had been separated from their parents in the hysteria. And he didn't need to lie, he used the truth. Using lies was one thing, somebody could recover from a hit like that with time, people would forget about rumours with time once the truth has been proven, but rock solid facts couldn't be destroyed like that. He had warned her. Blacks were not to be underestimated and the boy had inherited Black blood from his grandmother Dorea. Who by the way had an extensive collection of detailed information on people she knew about that her grandson had found somewhere. That book was legendary and every journalist would sell his firstborn to even get a glimpse into it.

Now she had to scrounge around to get the lowest stories. Oh, she would make Harry Potter pay, and she would use his method. She would find out the truth about the boy and then she would reveal it. Nobody crossed her and got away. Sadly she wouldn't get far as a certain Astronomy Professor kept a very keen eye on the grounds of Hogwarts with her personal marauder's map.

* * *

Harry sat on his broom, thinking how he could get past a dragon. True to their research of previous tournaments, almost always the first task dealt with large and dangerous magical creatures. At least the organizers had refrained from bringing the ones that would kill the champions with special abilities like a look; somebody had had the stupid idea of bringing a basilisk three centuries ago, or a breath, an even stupider official that brought a Nundu.

But dragons were nothing you could relax around. They had figured out that the task had to do with dragons when Ron and Ginny had told them that Charlie was coming. Then Hagrid had shown Harry the dragons, it paid off to be friends with a half-giant who simply loved dangerous creatures sometimes. Now Harry knew what would await him. He had taken his Firebolt to get out of the castle for some time and to think clearly.

Well one way would be outsmarting the dragon in the air. But he didn't know if his Firebolt would be enough to outspeed the dragon. There were reports that a dragon that had gathered momentum was pretty fast in the air. So he had to disable the long-range weapon, the fire. In short-range he had to additionally look out for the tail and the claws.

Points were always awarded for a spectacular performance and the least possible injuries. Well, the only real weakness a dragon had were the eyes. But Harry didn't think it would be wise to blind a dragon if there were real dragon eggs in near proximity. The conjunctivitis curse was painful and if the dragon accidentally trampled its own eggs, Harry didn't want to be responsible for the loss of those lives.

So the best choice to disable the fire would be a flame-freezing charm. He also needed a distraction. Perhaps he could try his rooster transfiguration again. A big, fat, grilled rooster should interest the dragon. More than it trying to eat him. Okay, he had to review his rooster transformation technique and give the dragon some big, tasty targets. Next thing was a way around the tail. With his luck he would probably get the Hungarian Horntail. And if not he had prepared for the worst case scenario.

Dragons had a lot of power. No shield that he could conjure would be able to stand up to the force a dragon tail could unleash. Well, time to get his team to help him find a way to solve the open spots in his strategy.

Ironically it had been Ron who found the perfect solution for the problem. Growing up with Charlie he had a lot of knowledge about dragons. They were creatures of fire. They didn't like water in greater doses. But it still took more water any wizard could conjure to put out a fire. The solution? Get the dragon over the lake, cast a well-aimed stunner between the wings, it will only sting the dragon a bit, but it's sufficient if it's distracted while flying high speed and with missing perhaps two swings with the wings the dragon will drop into the water.

So if the plan of mollifying the dragon with roast chicken and stealthily stealing the egg didn't work, he would drop it into the lake. He had his summoning charm perfected and had Ron hold onto his Firebolt in case plan A failed.

* * *

Harry stood in the champions' tent and listened to Bagman and his instructions of the task. Harry, wanting to prevent Cedric from dying or being heavily injured had pointed the Hufflepuff in the direction of the books about the previous tournaments. This way he at least knew that he would have to face a magical creature of massive size or danger. And if Cedric read the part that cheating was tradition in the Tournament, he could have found out about the creatures being dragons.

Harry's luck held true and was to face the Hungarian Horntail. Cedric had been first to go and got the Swedish Short-Snout, then Fleur followed with the Welsh Green, Viktor was next against the Chinese Fireball. Now Harry walked into the arena. He directly began transfiguring small rocks into normal sized roosters, which he then enlarged. Harry made an interesting discovery. Basilisks were not the only reptiles that hated crowing roosters. Nesting dragons did too. Harry's mega roosters began crowing and running around the arena in panic and annoying the shit out of the dragon.

She soon began roasting the roosters and completely ignored the boy that had disillusioned himself. With the smell of roasted chicken drafting through the air, the dragon was unable to smell Harry. He had all the time necessary to take the golden egg without disturbing the real dragon eggs. He disillusioned the egg, when he reached the nest, had a look if there were enough roosters left to distract the dragon and then stealthily sneaked to the finish line. There he cancelled the disillusionment charms on himself and the egg.

Roaring applause greeted him. He was uninjured, he had beat Krum by a big margin and his dragon contently chewed on the roasted chicken.

"Well, blimey, our youngest champion has shown his older competitors how it's done. He beat the best time from Mr Krum by three minutes. And he even made it look easy." He heard the voice of Ludo Bagman commentating.

Madam Pomfrey looked over Harry and seemed to be surprised.

"I didn't think that I'd live to see the day, when you get into a dangerous situation and would not be injured." She said waving her wand over Harry again to be sure he wasn't injured.

"Aw, Madam Pomfrey, you hurt me. I don't try to get injured. But wouldn't you miss me if I didn't visit you at least once a year in the hospital wing with a capital injury?" Harry teased her.

"No, I wouldn't." She answered grinning. "Now get out and get your score."

"Aye, aye, Madam!" Harry saluted and left the matron.

"Harry, you were great." Hermione greeted him, hugging him.

She was quickly followed by Ron and Neville who slapped his back, Ginny who shyly hugged him and the twins who whistled and catcalled.

"Thanks guys. I couldn't have done it without all of your help. Now, I need to get my score. Should have been enough to score high." Harry said smiling brightly.

They all waited next to Harry when he looked at the judges.

Madam Maxime was first. She didn't seem happy but she shot a ten in the air.

"Wow, well from her face I guess she would have liked to deduct some points but with you getting out without injury and in the best time she would just draw the scorn of the other judges towards her." Hermione said.

Barty Crouch was next and also shot a ten into the air. The same was true for Ludo Bagman and Professor Dumbledore. The three were smiling or at least looking content.

Next was Professor Karkaroff, who looked like he had swallowed a lemon but he shot up an eight.

"Unbelievable. He gave Krum a ten and he had his dragon trample over the real eggs." Ron ranted.

"It doesn't matter, Ron. From his face he would have liked to give me less, but with the others giving straight tens he couldn't justify it. Where do I rank in the Tournament now?" Harry asked, suspecting the answer.

"You're first, followed by Krum. He shot some spell into the dragon's eyes. As Ron said the dragon trampled on the real eggs due to that. Next is Fleur, she lulled her dragon to sleep somehow but was hit by a flame from the snoring dragon, which she put out with water from her wand. Then last place is Cedric, he also used transfiguration to distract the dragon, he transfigured a rock into a Labrador, but the dragon got bored with the dog and shot fire at Cedric when he just had the egg and gave him a bad burn." Neville reported.

"Hah and that is the reason why you have to think like Ron to defeat a dragon. Whatever you do, think with the stomach." Harry joked, getting a slap on the back of his head by the mentioned redhead.

* * *

**And Cut. I hope you liked my version of the first task. With Ron not being a jealous git after Harry directly made it clear that he didn't put his name into the Goblet there would be more support from his side. And for those that fear that this will be a Harry / Ginny pairing, it won't be. It doesn't fit into the concept of Harry being more like Sirius and James Bond. **

**But that will become clearer later on. Till in two weeks. (for this story)**


	7. Solving the Riddle

**Hi, I'm back with the next chapter for Agent Potter. Some questions or comments will be answered in this chapter, but not all of them ;) Happy Reading and thanks for all your comments. **

* * *

**Solving the Riddle**

The egg was a riddle; that much was clear. He had narrowed it down to another magical language. The question was which one and how could you be able to understand it? It couldn't be connected to the language learning exercises. If you didn't know which language it was, you had too many possibilities to consider. Nobody would be able to find the right one except by coincidence. And the organizers couldn't set up a task with a clue nobody would be able to solve by just guessing. They had been given three months to figure out the task and prepare for it. So there had to be a reason for the long time.

Alright; back to the facts, he was looking for a magical language, he knew immediately that no human language was based on screeches. So what were the possibilities to understand the language? Even if the riddle was backwards it wouldn't turn to screeching. Gobbledygook and Elvin were out; he had had Sirius give him an example of both languages out of curiosity before their trip to Egypt.

So he needed to narrow the possibilities down. Perhaps it had something to do with the creatures living around Hogwarts. The second task was always a quest. The champions had to puzzle out the location of the task and what kind of obstacle they would have to face to get to the prize of the task.

He had now a few possibilities where the task could take place. There was the forbidden forest, there lived enough creatures to make it dangerous, and one of them might speak the language that was produced when the egg was opened. They could set up some kind of maze, though that seemed to be more likely for the last task from former Tournament records. They could imitate a foreign landscape or they could use the lake. Wait the lake made sense. Nobody really knew what was inside besides the giant squid. The students only spent their time at the side of the lake, perhaps having their feet in the water. Even in May and June, the warmest months they spent at Hogwarts, the weather was too cold most of the times to want to go swimming in the lake. Even the warmest days didn't normally exceed 22°C.

If he was right, then the most logical way to understand the screeching would be to put it under water. Well, that could be done; he just needed to make a trip to the Room of Requirement. Asking for a swimming pool would be easy. And it wouldn't be that bad if he was wrong, he could think about the other possibilities if this idea turned out to be a dead end.

* * *

Harry entered the common room with his egg under his arm and a huge grin on his face, which had Hermione question him immediately.

"Harry, why are you grinning like that?" Then she seemed to notice the egg.

"You have figured it out already?" She asked excited.

Ron, Ginny, Neville, Fred and George heard her and came over.

"Did you really figure it out, mate?" Ron asked.

"Yep. I have been pondering what the screeching could be. I came up with it being some kind of foreign language. I don't know of any kind of human language that produces those screeches, even if it would be spoken backwards it would sound normal, well like jumbled up normal. So I thought about magical languages, like Elvin or Gobbledygook, those two I knew about. Then I decided that it would be improbable that they would just have us guess the language the clue was in. There had to be a trick to get the clue.

"I thought where the second task could be located. I mean it had to be somewhere around Hogwarts. We know from our research about the Tournament that the second task is always a quest with a clue from the first task. You have to figure out the location and the probable obstacles during the three month period between the first and second task. So I thought I'd try to think of the possible locations first instead of the language as I didn't get further with that. I came up with the Forbidden Forest, a maze somewhere on the grounds, a transfigured landscape or the lake.

"I thought the lake would be the most practical thing to use. Even if I did wonder what kind of boring task that had to be for the spectators. Well, it made sense that if it was the lake, I'd probably be able to understand the clue if I listened to it underwater. So I took the map, my egg and went looking for an unfrequented bathroom to put the egg underwater and listened. Well, it worked and now I know the clue." He proudly declared.

Harry grinned broadly, tantalizing them.

"Spit it out, Harry." Fred said.

"Yes, you don't want us to think of…" George continued.

"…interesting ways to make you spill." They both ended.

"Hm, I'm interested with what the two of you could come up." Harry said pondering.

"Please, Harry." Ginny begged using Puppy eyes.

"Aw, aren't you an adorable little puppy girl." Harry teased her and patted her head.

Ginny upped the ante and began pouting. Harry just smiled at her. Then he had a funny idea.

"Dobby." he called.

The house elf popped into the common room.

"Harry Potter sir has called for Dobby?" The elf asked excitedly.

"Yes, Dobby, I hope you're doing well." He said.

"Harry Potter sir is too good, asking if Dobby is well." The elf nearly cried from happiness.

"I take that as a yes. Well, Dobby, could you please do me a little favour? Ginny here is looking so adorable that I think she would like a lolly. Could you get me one for her? Oh and as I don't prefer one girl over the other I'd also like one for Hermione as well." Harry asked.

"Of course, Harry Potter sir. Dobby will get you two lollies for your girls."

The happy elf popped away only to re-appear again with two lollies for Ginny and Hermione a little later.

"Thanks a lot, Dobby, for helping me with this." Harry said smiling at the elf.

"Dobby gladly helps Harry Potter sir." He said before popping away again. Harry gave Ginny her lolly and held the one for Hermione out for her.

"Harry, you're incorrigible!" Hermione said partly angry with him for making Dobby get the things for him and partly amused for this little joke. She took the lolly.

"Oh thank you for the lolly, Harry!" Ginny said imitating a little girl and happily began sucking the lolly.

The twins were laughing, Ron and Neville were grinning. This was like Harry to make little jokes like that. He had become really witty about comments and how to handle situations after he returned after his first holidays. It had been strange at first but by now they had got used to it.

"So, do you think that you could grace us mere Hogwarts students with the clue you have figured out?" Fred asked.

"Why didn't you ask properly from the start, of course I'll tell you." Harry answered gracefully getting swatted over the head by the twins for it.

"It goes like this:

Come seek us where our voices sound

We cannot sing above the ground.

And while you're searching ponder this:

We've taken what you'll sorely miss.

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour – the prospect's black

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

They all waited until Hermione had written everything down. She had started writing with her lolly sticking out of her mouth as soon as Harry had begun reciting the poem.

"Okay, what does this poem mean?" Ron asked.

"Well, the first part is easy." Hermione began. "As Harry said, he thought about the task being in the lake and as the egg was understandable under water, he will have to face those who gave that clue in the lake. The only underwater creatures I have heard of having a language that humans can understand are merpeople, this must be where he has to go. Then the fourth line tells us that they will take something he will sorely miss, I don't know yet what that could be.

"The time limit's defined in the fifth line, he has one hour to get back what has been stolen from him. What I find strange are the last two lines. It seems fishy that he won't get back whatever was taken if the time runs out. That would be thievery and I can't imagine the Ministry who is organizing this to want be accused of that. Especially not when Harry is involved."

"Yeah, Fudge is too afraid that Harry will politically kill him like he did Umbridge. Gran was laughing so hard when I described what you did at the end of last year to her." Neville told his friends.

"I can imagine she didn't make many friends during her career. It's always better to have friends or friendly acquaintances in high positions than enemies. It was important to get her out of power as soon as possible." Harry said wisely.

"Are you intending to go into politics?" Hermione asked interested.

"Only if I can't prevent it. I'll have to represent my family in the Wizengamot as I'll inherit the seven seats my family gained through history once I come of age. I'll still let my current proxy vote for me with a few exceptions. I'll only show up for really important meetings. Like trials of high class criminals." Harry answered.

"Who is your current proxy?" Ginny asked.

"Andromeda Tonks. She is a healer at St. Mungo's and her husband has a lawyer's company where he works with three others. My family affairs are kept in order by that company. They also manage the Black estate."

"Black like in Sirius Black?" Ron asked shocked.

"Yep, Andromeda is Sirius Black's cousin, but don't worry, she doesn't support Voldemort, her husband is a muggleborn wizard called Ted. They are really nice people. And Andromeda has no doubt that Sirius is innocent. She just never got the Ministry to interrogate him under veritaserum. I found out he never had a trial. It makes me wonder if Andromeda could be right and somebody set him up. I mean my parents wouldn't just name anybody my godfather, wouldn't they?"

Fred, George, Ginny and Neville heard this for the first time. Ron and Hermione knew that he was Harry's godfather but not that he didn't have a trial. But Harry just needed to sew doubt against the Ministry. Sirius would not be found if he didn't want to be. He was too good for that.

"Harry, do you know if your parents named him your godfather the old pureblood way?" Neville asked uneasily.

"You got me there; I don't even know what you're talking about, Neville." Harry confessed.

"Well, from what Gran told me, in the muggle world the godparents are just named and in case the parents die the child will be raised by said godparent. In the wizarding world, especially in the old families, and the Potters are one of the oldest left in Great Britain, there is a stronger ritual. The godparent swears a magical oath to protect the child and never willingly endanger it. It's one of the few blood rituals which haven't been outlawed by the Ministry because the pureblood families would riot.

"If somebody knew what kind of ceremony they used, you could try to clear his name or at least get him a trial if you want to. If he was bound by the magical oath, he couldn't have betrayed you and your parents without losing his magic. And as we know from the reports of the attack on the muggles and that wizard Pettigrew he had to have done it if it had to make sense. But then again, why would he attack Pettigrew if he hadn't been the traitor?"

Harry was really impressed. Neville didn't show it often but he was smart. Harry just couldn't figure out why he had so many problems with spell casting. Potions he could explain with his immense fear of Snape. But the other subjects should be better.

"I'll ask Professor Lupin if he knows, he was their other closest friend back then, he should know. But if they used the ceremony then somebody paid good money to send Sirius to Azkaban. I bet it was somebody who wanted to get the Black fortune. Hah, tough luck, I'm the heir." Harry cackled.

"You're the Black heir?" Ron asked astonished.

"But don't tell it anybody. Sirius will hasn't been changed since 1980. I think he intended to have me his heir until he had children of his own. Everything to spite his hated family. Professor Lupin told me stories. He doesn't really know what to believe. He wants to believe Sirius is innocent because he and my father obviously were like brothers. But the facts seemed to speak against him." Harry explained.

"Who would have inherited the Black fortune if you weren't heir?" George asked.

Harry grinned evilly.

"Draco Malfoy. His mother was born a Black. And he is the only other male descendant. Andromeda has a daughter who is I think Charlie's age. Never call her by her first name, though. When I met her and Andromeda introduced her to me as Nymphadora I could see her flinch and after her mother was out of earshot she more or less threatened me to never use that name. She wants to be called Tonks."

Harry didn't mention Bellatrix Lestrange. He knew of the fate of Neville's parents but it was his secret to share.

They shared a good laugh about Draco losing the Black fortune to Harry.

"So another question. Have you heard about the Yule Ball that will take place on Christmas Day?" Hermione asked.

"Yule Ball?" Ron asked.

"Another tradition of the Triwizard Tournament dear little brother." Fred informed Ron.

"Yes, McGonagall told us today in Transfiguration. I think she will tell you tomorrow, that's when you have her next from what I remember of your timetable." George added.

"How did you know, Hermione?" They asked together.

"Please, I share a dorm with the two biggest gossips in our year. All the girls our year and above seem to be talking about is which girls Harry and Cedric will be asking out to the ball." Hermione scoffed.

"Eh?" Ron asked. "Why would Harry ask a girl to the ball?" He asked clueless.

Harry meanwhile went through a mental list of the pretty girls at Hogwarts he could ask to go with him to the ball. Thankfully he had been taught to dance. Secret agents blended in at every social event and balls were just common for official events in high society. He had been so glad that Miss Moneypenny had listened to his pleas and didn't give Stacey the job of teaching him. That would have been so embarrassing. And it was not healthy to give any 00 agent blackmail material on you.

"Ron, the champions of the Tournament have to open the Ball with their dance partners." Hermione scolded Ron.

This shocked the redhead.

"Well, I'll think about who I'll invite to the ball, I still have some time left. For now I want to get the preparations for the second task started. I need to find a way to breathe underwater for one to one and a half hours. I don't know how long it would take to find the merpeople in the lake. Does anybody know a method? I open the meeting for an all-out brainstorming." Harry declared.

* * *

Harry walked through the corridors at the MI6 headquarters for a short in person report. It was the first day of the Christmas holidays and he had got away from school via the floo in Professor or also Agent Sinistra's office. Curiously he wondered about the fat bug in the jar Agent Sinistra carried with a smug look on her face. They had been told Agent Carter would be taking their report. He was a 34 year old muggleborn wizard who had been kept from the positions he had qualified for in the Ministry. They had dumped him on a low no-rise position in the Department of International Magical Cooperation.

He was one of their spies at the Ministry. He had entered the service when he had been 22 and frustrated with the way things worked in the wizarding world. He had been top of his class, had managed eight NEWTs, six of them with O and two with EE. He had been head boy and had looked forward to a great career. Well if it wouldn't have been for the discrimination of muggleborns. Now he was a middle class agent who supplied the MI6 with international magical information. Crouch was an idiot in his position and his attitude had cost Britain many allies. But pureblood Britain didn't need allies of course. Carter could only shake his head at that arrogance.

"Alright, M and Agent Black are busy, so I'll act as your contact for now. First I was told to congratulate on your performance this year, Agent Potter. You're fulfilling the parameters of your mission so far. How have you planned to continue?"

"The second task is rescuing an object or a person from the Black Lake at Hogwarts. I have one hour to accomplish that. I have already narrowed down the possibilities to stay underwater to gillyweed and the bubblehead charm. I'll start with taking gillyweed as it has the additional advantage of increasing my mobility underwater. The bubblehead charm is my contingency plan. I don't know who they will place in the lake if they take a person.

"The most logical possibilities are my friends Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger or my date for the Yule Ball Ginny Weasley. I'll use the ball to show my dancing abilities and will blame my aunt on wanting to torment me with dancing lessons as Dudley could make fun of me for them. They still haven't figured out that I moved out of the place two and a half years ago. The third task will probably involve different obstacles in form of a maze. Normally they hide the Triwizard Cup somewhere at the centre of a maze or at the end of a line of obstacles."

"Alright, Agent Sinistra, what are your observations of the staff and what is the meaning of the beetle?" Carter asked her.

"I'll start with the beetle. This is Rita Skeeter, who I found out with the help of the map is an unregistered animagus. I was keeping an eye on the map for suspicious characters to find out who put Agent Potter's name into the Goblet of Fire. I have spelled the glass unbreakable and also put a ward around it that prevents her from transforming back. I wanted to put her in custody here. We need Agent Potter with a clean public slate. She tried to spread lies about him which backfired for her.

"But she is known for finding nuggets of truth and spin lies around them. I decided to eliminate the danger to our operation in the beginning. My main suspect for putting the name in the Goblet is Moody. From my observations of the map when it should show Alastor Moody it shows Barty Crouch. It's weird that Mr Crouch seemingly more or less disappeared from the Ministry and is calling ill from his home by owl." Agent Sinistra explained.

"Yes, I know that. We have already started an investigation on his house. It seems something is off there. The man never took a day off work in all the years I was trapped in his Department. And he would never put somebody as inexperienced as Percy Weasley in charge. I think he is a prisoner at his home under the imperius curse. We just need to find the one controlling him. Both would be invaluable to question." Carter confirmed.

"Next part of the mystery is Karkaroff. The man is getting twitchy. He has betrayed the Death Eaters to save his own hide. Something is telling me he knows more about what is going on behind the scenes. You said that you're monitoring Crouch's house. Have you regularly detected his presence?" She asked thinking about something.

"Yes we have. We see him through the windows. He has stayed there for the whole time we monitored the house." Carter confirmed.

"Crouch junior." She said while snapping her fingers. "There was a son of Barty Crouch who had the same first name. He was convicted to a life at Azkaban but died a year after that. Crouch's wife died soon after her son. If my theory is right, for whatever reason Crouch exchanged his wife and son's positions. His wife used polyjuice to maintain her cover. Perhaps she was fatally ill. With polyjuice she would keep the form of her son even after death. That is the only explanation I could think of for the map showing Barty Crouch in the position of Alastor Moody if you're sure that the older Barty Crouch is staying at his house."

"I'll send a message to the team at the house to arrest anybody in the house. We need to be sure. If you're right Moody will stay at Hogwarts without a change, if not, well we already need to find the real Moody. He is probably kept somewhere at Hogwarts to get information how to behave without raising suspicion. Potter, you're best suited to do covert investigation at the school. Use your copy of the map to find the real Moody. I guess the marauders only didn't find very special places. If you find him, see if you and Sinistra can get him out, if not wait for further instruction."

Carter looked at a report he had been given for this briefing.

"Any other visions or dreams about Voldemort, Potter?"

"None that I didn't already report. Have the research specialists had any success finding a method to destroy or transfer a soul-piece from a human container?" He asked calmly.

They had deducted that Harry's scar was probably a horcrux. A detection spell had confirmed it and at the beginning Harry had needed some time to get to terms with it. Q had promised to find a way to get it out of his body without killing him permanently. He had a theory and was running tests to see if he could prove it.

He had said: "Just because the magicals didn't find a way to do it before, that doesn't mean there isn't a way. Leave it to me."

Harry trusted Q more than the things wizards believed to be immovable truths.

"Not yet, but Q reported he is getting closer. The first series of tests was successful. He just needs to run the second and third series. He expects to be ready this summer. Until then we'll use the benefits those visions give us."

Harry nodded. He had got used to the mentality of the agents working from MI6.

'Shit happens, we are at the centre normally but we'll take anything they throw at us and do our best to have it backfire at them.'

* * *

**So that was chapter 7. Hope you liked it. Till next time. For those who don't want to wait, check out my other stories if you didn't already.**


	8. The Yule Ball

**Now here is chapter 8. A reminder for all Harry/Ginny haters, this is not the final pairing as I am still not decided who he will be with. The reason he chooses her is that she is a close friend and he can dance with as many girls as he likes if he goes to the ball with a friend. Just thought i needed to clear that part up.**

**Thanks for all your reviews and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**The Yule Ball**

Harry was getting ready for the Yule Ball. He had decided that taking Ginny as his date to the ball would be best for him. While there were many beautiful girls in his year that he had every intention to dance with, Ginny had been in his group of supporters during the year. He knew that if he had asked Hermione, Ron would have been jealous, because even if the redhead didn't realize it, he had a massive crush on the bushy haired brunette. Ginny meanwhile was a good friend and he knew she would grow into a beautiful woman, the first signs were there.

He had been influenced by Sirius and James Bond too much, he had to admit it. Both had cornered him after he had reported to Agent Carter, obviously Sirius' meeting with M had also included James and when they saw him after finishing the meeting both had decided he needed some last minute advice for the ball. It mostly consisted in being a perfect gentleman and not restricting himself to one woman to charm. But he always had to make sure his first date, Ginny, was agreeing to him dancing with other girls. James also told him that the easiest way to achieve that would be to ensure she also had a dance partner when he was dancing with someone else.

Harry had got many offers from girls to go to the ball with them, but he had politely declined saying he already had a date. To compensate them he offered to reserve one dance for them. Most girls were happy with that. When Ron had shown Harry his dress robes, Harry had taken action. He had pulled Ron into the bathroom, made him swear that he wouldn't tell anybody, least of all Hermione what he could do, and transfigured the old-fashioned dress robes in more modern ones. Now they were plain black classic styled robes. Harry told Ron he couldn't really do permanent transfiguration, but the robes would stay the way they were now until the next evening.

Ron enthusiastically thanked Harry for his help; now he wouldn't make a total fool of himself. Harry spiked his hair with gel to have it look less hopelessly messy and more intentional. He was curious how Ginny would look in the dress robes he had given her for a Christmas present. He knew she would have argued if he just bought her the robes, so he had conspired with Hermione, who had got Ginny's measurements, and had her accompany him to Hogsmeade to buy the robes for Ginny. He had also informed Mrs Weasley that he would take care of Ginny's robes so she wouldn't need to send her some.

While he had got a letter back that he shouldn't spend so much money on Ginny, he had ignored it. He wanted to make the ball special for Ginny and he really had more than enough money, especially as he was already earning his own money by working for the MI6. The thirty galleons he had spent on the dress robes were well invested in his mind. He had also asked Neville if he would get him a flower corsage for Ginny, which led to the plant lover creating them for all the fourth year Gryffindor boys. Neville was attending the ball with Hannah Abbott, Ron had asked Hermione, much to the surprise of Harry, perhaps he had been inspired by Harry asking Ginny so early on, Dean was going with Parvati and Seamus with Lavender.

A quick enquiry with Lavender, combined with a little bribe from Harry including a box of her favourite chocolate from Honeydukes, that being dark chocolate filled with strawberry-yoghurt cream, informed the boys of the colours the girl's dress robes had, so Neville could match the flowers to the robes. Parvati had pink robes, so Neville had chosen violets for Dean to present her with. Lavender in her midnight blue robes got white roses. Hermione with periwinkle blue got white camellias, For Hannah and her purple robes he had chosen pink orchids and Harry got red daffodils for Ginny's silver robes.

Where Neville got the flowers and how the hell he got the colours that perfectly stayed Neville's secret. He just smiled mysteriously and told them it was magic.

* * *

All the boys finally were done with getting ready and went down to the common room to wait for their dates, except Neville who went out of the tower to meet Hannah at the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room. Harry's dress robes were a deep dark red that sometimes looked black with a silver vest, matching Ginny's robes. He had forgone the idea to wear robes that highlighted his eyes for robes that wouldn't clash with Ginny's hair.

After fifteen minutes of waiting the first girls came down the stairs. Lavender and Parvati got much praise from Dean and Seamus and the two couples went on to walk down to the Great Hall. The next one was Hermione who took Ron's breath away. She was obviously pleased with the effect she had on him.

"Do you want us to wait for you, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"No, thank you, Ginny and I'll catch up with you later." Harry answered smiling. "Make sure Ron doesn't run into any walls." He teased.

She blushed a bit and nodded. They left the common room and now only Harry was left of the fourth years. Then Ginny finally came down and he was stunned how beautiful she looked. He was so lucky to have her as his date. The silver dress robes fitted her perfectly and subtly highlighted her developing body in the right places. Hermione had made sure that the robes wouldn't be too old-fashioned, which would certainly have happened if Mrs Weasley had chosen them. Her hair looked great, being done in wavy curls that surrounded her face. She wore thin, threadlike silver earrings and a slim silver necklace with a red stone as the pendant. From his information that was part of the Prewett jewels that Mrs Weasley normally kept locked except for special occasions. Harry smiled brightly at her and took her hand.

"You're even more beautiful than on normal days, Ginny. The waiting I had to endure before you graced me with your presence definitely was worth it. I want to also present you with a little flowery present to highlight your natural beauty even more." He said.

Ginny blushed heavily. She was not used to Harry flirting that much with her. He normally kept to a bit of teasing, but he obviously was serious in making her compliments.

"Thank you, Harry. You're looking very handsome yourself." She finally managed to say.

Harry put the flower corsage on her wrist and she admired the daffodils.

"Oh, Harry, where in the world did you get red daffodils?" She asked excitedly.

"That, my dear, I also don't know. Our local plant whisperer didn't want to share his secrets with us mere wizards." He informed her. "I just left the job to the professional."

Ginny giggled. Harry was right. Regarding plants Neville was the one everyone asked. Harry offered Ginny his arm and led her down to the entrance hall where Professor McGonagall was waiting for them to join the other champions.

"Ah, Mr Potter and Miss Weasley. Please come over here, the other champions are already here. You'll enter the Great Hall in a line once all the other students and guests have taken their seats. The first pair will be Miss Delacour and Mr Davies. The next pair will be Mr Diggory and Miss Chang, then Mr Krum and Miss Romien and last Mr Potter and Miss Weasley. You'll walk towards the table where the judges are presiding the ball, greet them with a bow or a curtsy respectively and then take your places on the table that is reserved for the champions. First thing will be dinner then you'll open the ball." She explained.

The couples nodded. Then McGonagall went into the Great Hall to see if they could come inside yet. Finally she called them and the four couples entered the Great Hall, which had been transformed into a winter wonderland. Ice sculptures decorated the walls and snow was falling from the enchanted ceiling. The other students applauded the champions walking into the Great Hall. Finally they reached the table with the judges where Percy Weasley had taken the spot of Barty Crouch. The Champions and their dates bowed or curtsied respectively and then took their seats. Harry held out the chair for Ginny, they had chosen the seats furthest away from Percy, and they sat down. After a short period of confusion how they would get their food, Dumbledore demonstrated it and they followed his example of ordering the food from the menu.

During dinner Harry talked a bit with Viktor about Quidditch and how he had become a professional player. To Viktor's massive surprise, Harry conversed with him in fluent Bulgarian. He hadn't really noticed that Harry spoke his language at the World Cup having been dazed by the bludger that had smashed his nose. He also kept Ginny entertained with some funny stories from his first year at Hogwarts she hadn't heard about from Ron yet. Even Cedric and Cho didn't know about some of them.

Fleur was complaining about Peeves and how they would have dealt with him at Beauxbatons already. Roger Davies was practically glued to her voice, missing his mouth with his fork a lot. Obviously Fleur hadn't been able to completely turn off her allure and Roger couldn't resist it at all. Harry didn't notice it. While he had been influenced by the allure of the Veela at the World Cup a bit, they had been full blooded Veela and there had been twenty of them. Fleur as he knew was only quarter Veela.

* * *

Then everybody had finished their dinner and Dumbledore announced it was time for the champions and their dates to open the ball. Harry stood up and bowed to Ginny.

"My Lady, would you grant me this dance?" He asked being the perfect gentleman, like he had been taught by Sirius.

"Of course, my Lord." Ginny answered blushing.

Harry led Ginny at the dance floor and whirled her in position. Ginny was surprised by his actions. He just smiled reassuringly at her. The music started with a waltz and Harry began moving in the rhythm of the music. He and Ginny glided over the dance floor, surprising all the spectators with their harmonious dancing.

Harry led Ginny perfectly through the parts of the waltz and she followed his lead. She obviously had been taught how to dance by her mother. Harry was determined to show everybody tonight just how good he was at dancing. After all, he had just barely dodged having to learn with Stacy. But a massive dose of puppy dog eyes targeted at Miss Moneypenny coupled with a box of her favourite sweets got the assistant of M to give him another tutor. Harry was very glad to have dodged that bullet. You never let a 00 agent have blackmail material on you. Sirius had told him that Stacey had pouted hearing that she wouldn't be the one to teach Harry how to dance.

Harry continued dancing with Ginny for the next two dances, then he led her back to their table. He watched the other students and found their group of friends sitting together.

"What do you think? Do you want to get something to drink and go over to the others? I also kind of promised some girls one dance because I already had asked you to the ball." Harry asked.

Ginny had already known about him having promised Susan Bones a dance and had no problems with it.

"Sure, Harry." She said and he held out his arm, which she took, and led her over.

* * *

Over the remaining evening Harry danced one dance with each Hermione, Susan, Hannah, Parvati, Padma, Lavender, Daphne Greengrass, who looked utterly unhappy with having to accompany Theodore Nott to the ball, Tracy Davis, Angelina, Alicia and Katie, his teammates had insisted on a dance each after seeing his skill, Mandy Brocklehurst, Cho and of course he danced some more with Ginny. He always made sure Ginny was okay with him dancing with one of the others. She had a lot of fun and was glad that Harry was so open with her also dancing with some of her friends and some older students.

She danced with both Fred and George, who insisted to whirl their stunning little sister over the dance floor, Lee Jordan, Cedric, even Viktor Krum asked her for one dance. But he seemed to be more interested in Hermione, who gladly danced with him as Ron didn't want to dance. But at least her brother managed to keep his tone civil. Perhaps it had been Harry's words which he had with Ron shortly after Viktor had asked Hermione for the first dance; or the fact that Hermione still spent a lot of time with them at the tables and also danced with Harry, the twins, Cedric and Lee.

Close to eleven Harry and Ginny went out for a walk in the enchanted flower garden that had been built for those that wanted to get a bit of fresh air.

"Do you have fun, Ginny?" Harry asked.

"Oh, yes. It's fantastic. I didn't know you were such a good dancer." She said.

"Well, Aunt Petunia had tried to get Dudley to learn dancing, wanting to make him 'a perfect little gentleman'. Of course he complained and said it would be embarrassing. So I was also forced to take the course. Contrary to Dudley I liked it and while he may have mocked me, I learned to dance pretty well then. During the holidays I then took some offered advanced courses which the Dursleys never found out about, of course. It was a nice way to spend time away from Privet Drive." Harry told his official cover story.

"You're a man of many secrets, Harry. What else can you do that nobody knows about? Speaking French and Bulgarian fluently, having started learning German, dancing like a professional, feeding Dragons with mega roosters, what else do we not know about you?" She asked.

Harry ginned.

"That's for me to know and you to find out, Ginny. Women are not the only ones that have secrets." He teased.

"Is that a challenge?" She asked boldly.

"Perhaps." He answered, then they both laughed.

"I'll find out, Harry, believe it." She said still laughing.

"I'll wait for it." He answered.

The walked on and suddenly heard Hagrid's voice.

"When I saw you, I immediately knew." He said.

"What did you know, 'Agrid?" Madame Maxime asked.

"Tha' you're like me. I have never me' another one b'fore." Hagrid answered.

"Anuzzer what?" She asked dangerously.

Harry knew Hagrid shouldn't go on, but he couldn't warn his big friend.

"Another half-giant of course. Who was is with you? With me it was me mum." He said.

"'Alf-giant? I 'ave never been as insulted before. I just 'ave big bones." She said and stormed away.

Harry shook his head at Hagrid's sad face.

"Did you know?" Ginny asked.

"I suspected it. He is too big to be entirely human. And not big enough to be a full giant. But it doesn't matter to me. All those prejudices against those of mixed blood are ridiculous in my mind." He answered.

She nodded. She had been raised with the views of their parents and each of them had talked about Hagrid as a nice man. If he was a half-giant the others couldn't be that bad. And Remus Lupin had shown that not all werewolves were evil.

"It is sad that he is so disappointed that Madame Maxime denied her heritage. If Hagrid is half-giant, she is as well." Ginny stated.

"You're right. Perhaps she is used to the treatment those of mixed blood normally get and tries to pretend to be normal." Harry suggested.

"Possibly. Do you want to return inside, I'd like to dance again." She asked.

"Sure. Whatever my Lady wishes." He answered smirking.

"Anything?" She asked.

"Within certain limits. I don't think I could fit a winged horse in your dormitory." He answered.

"Prat." She replied.

"Sometimes that too." He said.

"You always have to have the last word, don't you?"

"That could be possible."

She groaned while he grinned and led her inside to dance again. He was very glad that Aurora had already captured Rita. With her in beetle form snooping around that story would have caused trouble for Hagrid.

* * *

**So that concludes the Yule Ball. Did you like it? Till in two weeks. **


	9. The Second Task

**Hi,here is the next update. Thanks to all of you who left reviews. Hope you like this chapter as well. Happy reading.**

* * *

**The second Task**

Harry stood at the shore of the Black Lake, going over his mental map of the lake. Doing a little secret diving had been easy enough. He had snuck down one morning under the invisibility cloak and put a warming charm on his body before using the bubblehead charm to explore a bit. He knew exactly where the village of the merpeople was.

Now he just had to wait for the signal to start the task to be given. He knew if Mrs Weasley knew that her only daughter was held at the bottom of the lake, she would be really upset. Somehow he doubted that she had been asked for permission. Really, who put innocents in danger like that? The champions were another story, they, except for Harry, had willingly signed up for this. And Harry didn't have a problem with doing the tasks; it was a good test for his capabilities in a somewhat controlled battlefield.

Finally Bagman finished his speech and gave the signal to start. Harry immediately ate the gillyweed he had Neville get him and dove under the water. He didn't wait for the plant to kick in completely. This task was based on speed and the ability to avoid the inhabitants of the lake. Well, he knew his destination, his obstacles, the way to deal with the obstacles if they showed up and his mission. This was a do it quickly and cleanly kind of job. Rescue the girl before anybody else can save his girl or boy. After all he didn't know who had been taken hostage for the other champions.

The full effects of the gillyweed kicked in and Harry began to propel through the water with the speed only froglike hands and flippers could give you. He soon heard the same song that the egg had played. He was near his destination. Two minutes later he had found the place where the hostages were kept. Well, seeing Hermione here was a surprise. Cho not so much, Cedric and she were dating. The little girl resembled Fleur, probably her eight year old sister Gabrielle.

Harry used the pocket knife Sirius gave him at the trip at the Hogwarts Express after first year and cut Ginny's ropes. He then used his flippers to get back to the surface. He would get best marks for this task, he was sure of it.

When Harry had handed Ginny over to Madam Pomfrey, he was just about to take the plant that canceled the effects of gillyweed when he saw Fleur in tears coming from the lake, babbling in fast French about not being able to save her little sister. Harry just couldn't see pretty girls cry and decided he had enough time to return for the little girl. He signed to Ginny he would go back again for Fleur's sister and she nodded.

Harry dove back down to the village. He soon enough reached the last remaining hostage Gabrielle Delacour. The merpeople were really reluctant to hand the hostage over but Harry could be really convincing. He shot streams of hot water at the merpeople who tried to stop him, cut Gabrielle lose and swam back to the surface. When he was ten meters from the surface he felt the effects of the gillyweed ceasing. He held his breath and sped to the surface to break through and take a relieving breath of air.

Gabrielle was awake now and asked him in French where she was. He answered, that her sister had some difficulties under water and hadn't managed to reach her and had been really upset. So he had gone back to get her because he didn't want her to be left there alone. He got a grateful kiss on the cheek from the little blond girl.

This was repeated by her older sister once he brought Gabrielle back and the two talked in rapid French with each other. Fleur kissed him on both cheeks thanking him over and over for going back into the lake to save her little sister when he didn't need to do that. Harry smiled at her and told her he just couldn't leave a little girl in danger if he was able to help. This would get him positive headlines for the next weeks and cause the Minister stomach problems.

* * *

Finally it was time to get the scores for the second task. They were telling all the scores at once.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please give us your attention for a moment. We have got a complete report about the things that happened in the lake from Mer-chieftainess Murcus." Ludo Bagman said with his amplified voice.

"Miss Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the bubblehead charm was attacked by grindylows and was unable to retrieve her hostage. We are awarding her twenty five points for this. Mr Viktor Krum demonstrated an incomplete but nonetheless effective human transfiguration to get to his hostage and free her from the ground of the lake. He returned third place with his hostage five minutes outside the time limit. We award him forty points."

Fleur and Viktor got encouraging applause and cheers from their schoolmates and some polite applause from the Hogwarts students.

"Mr Cedric Diggory returned second with his hostage one minute outside the time-limit. He successfully used the bubblehead charm. We therefore award him forty-seven points."

The Hogwarts students especially the Hufflepuffs cheered and applauded for him.

"Mr Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect. He returned with his hostage first well in the allowed time-limit without any problems against the creatures of the lake. When he saw that Miss Delacour had failed to retrieve her hostage he bravely dived back into the lake and went back to the village. He freed Miss Delacour's hostage and took her to safety. For his perfect fulfillment of the task he is awarded fifty points and also an extra five points for showing moral fiber."

The Hogwarts students cheered loudly, no house louder than Gryffindor. Harry now was leading by a margin of seventeen points to Cedric and twenty two points to Viktor. This was looking good for the last task.

* * *

Harry had told his friends that he would meet them later in the Three Broomsticks but that he had agreed to meet someone for the morning.

"Oh, anything we should know about Harrykins?" George began teasing.

"Yes, is there something we should know about a potential girlfriend?" Fred continued.

Harry played innocent. He wanted them to think he was having a secret date. It was such a good cover for his meeting with Sirius.

"I don't know what you mean." He lied unconvincingly.

"Sure Harrykins. Well, we wish you well." George said, pulling Ron who seemed to want to say something with him before he could make one of his insensible comments.

Hermione looked at him questioning but then smiled and followed the others.

* * *

Harry had left the village and went into the hills. Sinistra had told him about the meeting place in one of the caves where the MI6 had positioned monitoring equipment. They kept a constant watch at Hogsmeade with it being the only purely magical village in Great Britain. Soon Harry reached the cave, tipped the code at the concealed panel and opened the door. As soon as he had passed through the door closed and the lights at the ceiling turned on. Harry went to the main room of this hidden base.

"Hey, Sirius." He greeted his godfather, who observed some monitors.

"Hey, Harry. I have heard of your stellar performance at the second task. Good work. And the articles the Prophet, Witch Weekly and Teen Witch Weekly have printed were fantastic. I think our dear Minister is truly afraid of your influence now. He knows should you speak against him, he will lose the election. And with your performance at the Tournament he can't find a single bad thing to say about you. With Rita out of the way, they don't have one reporter who wants to anger you with denunciations they can't prove. So no public smear campaign for you. And that is nothing compared to the positive press you got in France for selflessly saving the youngest daughter of the head of their Department of International Magical Cooperation. Which in France is a lot more important than in England." Sirius added.

"He won't win whatever he tries." Harry scoffed. "He has done too much damage to the wizarding world. We are stagnating and the pureblood bigots are doing what they want. To reform this system we need fresh people in positions of power. People who don't fear to go against tradition. We all know that Voldemort is planning his return soon. That is why he wants me. He thinks using me in whatever ritual he has planned will strengthen him."

"Yes, that is part of what I wanted to discuss with you. We have secured Barty Crouch senior. He confessed under veritaserum that he got his son out of Azkaban out of love for his wife. She didn't want to have her son die there. She had a fatal illness, just like Aurora had guessed, and exchanged places with her son drinking polyjuice potion until she died. He kept his son under the imperius with a house elf called Winky to care for him. At the World Cup the curse ceased to work and his son stole a wand from a girl. He was the one to shoot the mark into the sky.

"The house elf managed to disapparate with his son back home where he renewed the curse until Voldemort and Malfoy came along and freed his son. From then on Voldemort placed him under the curse and had him go about his days as usual. After some time Crouch began fighting the imperius and they deemed him too dangerous to be let out of the house. Thus he had to write letters to Percy Weasley, the one least probable to figure out that something was amiss. After all, he never figured out his rat was Wormtail, even if the bastard had a strangely long lifespan for a common rat.

"Malfoy was also the one guarding Crouch at his home. We overwhelmed him with a blitz attack. From him we found out the kind of ritual they intend to use. It's a potion which uses bone of the father unknowingly given, flesh of the servant willingly given and blood of the enemy forcefully taken, that's your part. Somehow Malfoy heard of rumours about Voldemort being in Albania in hiding and traveled there. He came across Bertha Jorkins and brought her to Voldemort after he found a strong memory charm.

"Voldemort was able to destroy the charm, destroying her mind in the progress but something like that never interested him. He found out about Barty Crouch junior still being alive but imprisoned by his father. This was the missing piece in his plan as he needed a loyal follower to place at Hogwarts who wouldn't be missed otherwise. A presumed dead man was perfect. They attacked Moody at the beginning of the school year, overpowered him and kept him prisoner in his own trunk. The trunk is warded, which is the reason you couldn't find him on the map.

"We know where the ritual is intended to take place. It's a small village called Little Hangleton. It's the last known family seat of the Gaunts, the last known descendants of Slytherin. There were rumours about the son of the wealthy Riddle family somehow eloping with the daughter of the village tramp. Then after some time he went back, telling everyone he had been hoodwinked. Obviously a muggle not being willed to admit about magic being involved. The more important part is that Tom Riddle was found murdered there some decades ago together with his parents.

"So his grave is there. The only place where Voldemort could get the bones of his father. We have had teams investigating the area at once and found an interesting place. The old Gaunt shack was pretty well secured. We got some master curse-breakers there and they found a ring hidden in the shack. A ring with the Peverell coat of arms on it, which coincidentally is another horcrux. It has already been taken care of." Sirius ended his lenghty explanation.

"Wow, you really were busy. How are we going to crash Voldemort's rebirth party?" Harry asked.

"Well, M, the other higher ups and the 00 agents are still debating which way would be best to go. The threat of Voldemort returning is a class red situation. Voldemort can't be allowed to kill British citizens again. You don't know how critical the situation really is as you didn't experience the last war. MI6 has orders from her Majesty to deal with the threat with all necessary force. It's her Majesty's opinion that the lives of terrorists like the Death Eaters have been forfeit the moment they willingly took Voldemort's mark. She was our sovereign during the last war and knows what she is doing.

"You have to understand that Voldemort's goals aren't doing any good for the wizarding society of Great Britain, he is driving us to the edge of extinction. He is killing off magical blood, blood which is needed to repopulate our numbers. The last war saw thousands killed, most of them young. He actively went after young muggleborns, which means they didn't have a chance to have children. The pureblood houses are tending to be infertile, some just stopping to try for more than one or two children. And a lot of them are losing magical strength with each generation due to inbreeding.

"The Lestrange line is dead, Rastaban and Rodolphus are sterile. The Crabbe and Goyle lines are just beyond squibs. They would need powerful fresh blood to have a chance of getting back to strength, which can't be found in European pureblood lines. Same with the Bulstrode and Parkinson lines. They are just a bit better off. It's a pattern which will destroy us in a few generations if it isn't stopped now. The only hope our world has are families like the Weasleys who somehow kept strong magical blood and have a lot of children.

"Look at what Arthur's sons are doing for chosen professions. Bill is a curse-breaker, a job which requires a powerful wizard, Charlie works with dragons, Percy while being a bit too rule loving is powerful and ambitious. If he could be forced to open his eyes at the bigotry at the Ministry, he would be perfectly placed to help bringing the change we need. The boy was a model student." Sirius listed.

"Leave Percy to me, I have an idea what to do. I can use his ambition to get him to see the truth." Harry said grinning.

Sirius nodded. They had thought of recruiting Percy Weasley as a spy. Nobody would suspect the overly correct redhead, but they didn't have any leverage. And at the moment he was still too blended by the myth of the great overly correct Barty Crouch. But the potential was there. If only the boy would start thinking for himself and cease his love for authority.

"One thing is we sent Lucius back under a potion that has the same effects as the imperius but is harder to neutralize as it doesn't really depend on the power of one's will. You need something to counter the potion itself and Q is sure it will take a potions master a sample of said potion and at least six months to find it. This potion isn't prepared the normal magical way but the muggle way. Q just loves playing with magical ideas and converting them." Sirius and Harry both grinned at that thought. "Malfoy will pretend nothing has changed and guard Crouch at his home. Well, a golem of Crouch. Voldemort just can't find out that we have got him out already. He has to think his little plan is still working. Now, they intend to get you to the cemetery by portkey, which will be the charmed Triwizard Cup. Malfoy is the one to do the ritual. We'll prepare the site that Voldemort's resurrection is stopped. This means we have to exchange one of the key ingredients.

"Our best options are the first or third ones. As long as Voldemort doesn't suspect us taking away the bones of his father, we can cheat the ritual at that point. As we didn't find all the horcruxes yet it's too early for him to return. We don't want to put the British public in danger by allowing him to return when he still has horcruxes we didn't find. Our research team found out that the most probable number of horcruxes he would have made would be six, with the part that is in his body being the seventh."

Harry snorted. Great plan indeed. It just didn't work like it should have. Sirius nodded agreeing with Harry's obvious sentiment.

"The problem for Voldemort is that he doesn't know he accidentally made you a horcrux. So we can safely assume that by now he would have six. We got three down, the diary, the ring and the locket. We assume he would go after items of the founders of Hogwarts after following his path of ascension. Records from 1940 – 1945, the year he graduated from Hogwarts, show an obsession with all things Slytherin and things that belonged to the founders. Aurora's research into Dumbledore's private store of memories lets us safely assume that he found out about the cup of Hufflepuff the same time as he found the locket of Slytherin. He stole them from an old woman called Hephzibah Smith, a descendant of Helga Hufflepuff.

"We think he used an item of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw but the only item Gryffindor is known for is his sword and that was in contact with basilisk venom and therefore can't be a horcrux. Ravenclaw was famous for her diadem, which was lost when she was still alive. But I wouldn't put it past Voldemort to have found it somehow. We are also searching possible hiding places Voldemort could have used. From what we found out, he used Lucius Malfoy to keep the diary safe. The ring was in the shack where the last of the descendants of Slytherin lived. From Kreacher we know that he hid the locket in a cave. This leaves the others, at least two. We think that all places he used had some significance in them. While the shack isn't impressive, it represents his position as heir of Slytherin.

"Lucius was one of his most trusted servants. If he would have given more of his horcruxes to his servants, without telling them of course what they were keeping safe for him, I'd guess it was Bellatrix. Lucius and she were called the left and right hand of the Dark Lord in the last war. We have searched the Lestrange manor already but there is nothing hidden. We suspect something could be at Gringotts but getting the goblins to give it to us is a problem. If I didn't have the problem of being a wanted criminal I could get it as head of the Black family as I'm still Bellatrix' head of house."

"If you could get into her vault, wouldn't a written permission from you enable me or Andromeda to look into the vault? I mean, the goblins didn't care about you being an escapee when you got me the Firebolt for my fourteenth birthday." Harry suggested.

"Sadly that is one of the few things I have to do in person. The signature could have been forcibly taken from me so the goblins insist that in case a head of house wants to access a vault of one of his family members he has to appear in person and do an identification test based on blood. I had thought of doing that."

"A pity." Harry commented.

"It truly is. The next possible location is Hogwarts. He came back one time to apply for the DADA post. Dumbledore denied him the post but he could have hidden the horcrux that time. Our best bets are the Chamber of Secrets or a place located on the way from the entrance hall to Dumbledore's office."

Harry pondered about this.

"I'll check both the Chamber of Secrets and the Room of Requirement. Voldemort is arrogant enough to think only he found the room. If I ask for the hiding place of the horcrux I should be able to find it if it's there." Harry said.

Sirius nodded.

"So, they plan to use the Cup as a portkey, should I play along or disable the charm to make Voldemort's plan fail?" Harry asked.

"Go along with it. We need an agent on site to influence what happens. And I'd rather have you head into a trap you know about and can prepare for than one you don't expect. As Voldemort wants to use your blood, we'll equip you with a blood bottle. It will be filled with blood that acts as a toxin with other beings than its original host. 002 came across the beast on his last mission. His story was terrible. He just got away and he is on medical leave for four months." Sirius answered.

"Wow that must be some beast if 002 can't handle it. He normally gets all the animal related missions because they seem to like him for some strange reason. Even the odd magical creatures he meets are friendly with him." Harry exclaimed surprised with wide eyes.

"Tell me. We still haven't found a name for the beast. Some of our scientists suspect it could be a mutation or an experiment gone wrong. Who knows which villain decided the Amazon was a nice place to plot nefarious deeds? Nobody truly knows the jungle well except the few natives living there and most of them live so secluded you can't get them to help."

"Sounds plausible. So I guess Malfoy will have orders to pick the blood from the blood bottle for the ritual and as it's toxic as well as willingly given that should botch up the ritual quite a bit. If you can also exchange the bones in the grave we should be able to either prevent his return or weaken him so far that he will have to think how to regain his strength before he can terrorize Great Britain again."

"Precisely. How is your training coming along?" Sirius asked having finished the official part of the meeting with his godson.

"It's going really well. I even got Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Neville, Fred and George stronger as they are helping me. They are nowhere near my level but for school kids they are quite strong, especially Neville. I'd never have thought he had that much raw power in him. But using a dare from one of our drinking games, I got him to sneak to Olivander's during the Christmas holidays and get his own wand. His Gran doesn't know he has his own wand though. He still keeps his father's old wand as a keepsake but he doesn't use it anymore."

"Yes, an incompatible wand can truly hinder you. I'm surprised that Augusta didn't get him his own wand when he started at Hogwarts. It must have prevented him from getting good results. I know in poor families like the Weasleys children get wands from their older siblings or other relatives. Sometimes the ones long dead. Wands are normally kept in families if they aren't burried with the witch or wizard they belonged to, but that isn't really common." Sirius told Harry.

"Neville's Gran has a problem to get over the loss of her son. She tries to replace him with Neville, but Neville and his father are different. If I hadn't played this right with the dare, Neville would still hinder himself with his father's wand."

"By the way, how comes Ginny Weasley was your hostage in the lake? I'd have thought the person you would miss most would be Ron or Hermione." Sirius wanted to know.

"Well, Ginny has become a good friend this year and she is easier to get along with than Ron sometimes. We sometimes simply think the same way. As Hermione was Krum's hostage I think that was the deciding factor for them choosing Ginny instead of Ron. Of course now everybody thinks I'm romantically interested in Ginny." Harry shook his head.

"Are you?" Sirius asked.

"Not at the moment. I also don't want to bind myself too early. I know that in the job I have chosen I'll be required to seduce other women. It wouldn't be fair to any other woman to be in a relationship with me if I won't be faithful. If she would be older and still interested, I'd probably flirt a bit, perhaps even sleep with her. But I won't enter a serious relationship. I wouldn't be able to be honest with any girlfriend outside the MI6. And you know that I want to earn 00 status when I'm older and more experienced." Harry replied. "Not to mention that there are so many pretty girls around. I mean Ginny knew that we were going to the ball as friends and that gave me the perfect opportunity to dance with all the pretty girls I wanted as long as I didn't neglect her."

Sirius laughed at the afterthought. He and James had really influenced Harry's behaviour. Many would say not for the best.

"I know. And I believe you can get there. I'm glad you don't have any false impressions of the sacrifices we bring for the job." He then said.

"I have you for a role-model and I always am the one the 00 agents are telling their fantastic stories about older missions that are cleared to be told. I'm somehow the little brother figure that gives them an ounce of normalcy in their lives. None of them refuses to give me some pointers how to further my training or which parts of the job are the hardest. And 007 likes to tell about all his girls, he met on various missions." Harry pointed out.

"Yeah, James is the one with most sexual experience in the department."

"And he still never thinks of Moneypenny like that, much to her disappointment." Harry laughed.

"True. But James is too professional for that. No affairs inside the department." Sirius countered.

"What about you and Aurora? I heard rumours. Anything true about them?" Harry asked.

"We got pretty drunk on a party for New Year and landed in bed together. We both enjoyed it but there is nothing serious going on." Sirius informed his godson.

Harry nodded. That was more or less what he had guessed.

"Alright, ready for a sparring match? We have some time left and I think you have slacked in your staff fighting a bit." Sirius said smirking.

Harry returned the smirk.

"You wish. While I spend a lot of my time getting the others to a higher level, I never slack in my training. And you forget the staff is Aurora's preferred weapon besides a gun."

* * *

**Alright, that's it for this chapter. Till next time.**


	10. Showdown at the Graveyard

**Hi, this is the extra special Christmas update outside of my normal update schedule. I have decided to update all of my stories for which I had the next chapter (at least) ready. So you get six update over all as well as a new story! Merry Christmas.**

* * *

**Showdown at the Graveyard**

Harry checked his equipment. He had his wand, his spare wand, which nobody at Hogwarts but Professor Sinistra knew about, he wore a basilisk hide armour hidden under his clothes, yes he had harvested the basilisk he had slain for all its worth, and he had the blood bottle in a holster under his right arm. Malfoy had been given orders to pierce the bottle with the knife he would use for the ritual; any splashes of the acidic blood would be kept from Harry's skin by the basilisk hide.

The fake Moody would be handled by Agent Carter, who had come to Hogwarts under the cover of wanting to watch the last part of the event his department had worked so hard for to organize. Harry was pretty sure that Percy Weasley wouldn't be the one to step in for Barty Crouch this time; the Ministry had finally realized that something was amiss, so they had relocated Malfoy and the golem. They had got signals that Malfoy had 'killed' the golem when it was obvious that their little game had been discovered. Well, it wasn't a big loss, one new sample of blood and the golem could be used again. Those things were durable. Except in case of strong earth quakes after twelve years of course, but really, a golem that held twelve years without new powering was really impressive.

Finally Harry joined his friends and walked down to the remodelled Quidditch pitch. It had been changed into a maze of hedges, hiding whatever crazy things the organizers had come up with. When they reached the pitch, he left his friends and the Weasleys at the stands; he was touched that Molly and Bill Weasley had stepped in for his supposed family. Well, his real family would be really busy with the mission Harry had to fulfil. It was his first really big one after all.

Until now the tasks had been training under extreme conditions. There were still safety precautions. But when the cup brought him to the cemetery, he would be on his own for a while. He had to play the deciding part in weakening Voldemort. He knew from a short message he had got from Agent Sinistra that the others hadn't found a way to exchange the bones of Voldemort's father without raising suspicion. So it all depended on him. Harry was calm. He had been trained for this. If all went well, he wouldn't have to face Voldemort at full power but severely weakened. They would either buy the country time to prepare if he regained a body today and somehow escaped, otherwise they would have stopped him from returning this time or have him in custody.

He had found the horcrux in the Room of Requirement. The diadem of Ravenclaw was taken care of. They just needed the cup of Hufflepuff and whatever the last horcrux was. That was one reason why they wanted to let Voldemort think he had a chance to return, to find out what the horcrux could be. They knew to kill him he needed to get a body, but if they had a say in it, he would get a weak one.

* * *

Harry now stood next to the other champions. The fake Moody stood near him as he was one of the guards around the maze. Professor Dumbledore gave them a few last words of advice and then they had to wait for Bagman to make his speech.

"Witches and Wizards, Ladies and Gentlemen, today we are about to see the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. We have seen outstanding abilities in our four champions but only one can win the Tournament. Each of the four has the same chance at succeeding. In first place with a total score of one hundred and three points we have Mr Harry Potter of Hogwarts School!" Bagman announced, getting loud cheers and applause from the spectators, Harry smiled and waved at them. He wanted everyone to see his growth since the beginning of the year.

"In second place with eighty five points we have Mr Cedric Diggory also from Hogwarts School!" Bagman said, getting another round of cheering and applause for Cedric.

"In third place with eighty points, representing Durmstrang Institute, Mr Viktor Krum!" He shouted, Krum got a bit less applause but still a lot.

"And in fourth place Miss Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons Academy." He concluded his introduction of the champions.

"As he is leading in this Tournament with eighteen points, Mr Harry Potter will enter the maze first, followed by Mr Diggory, Mr Krum and Miss Delacour. The winner will be decided by their skill in the maze. The points they got will be transferred in a time advantage, every point will be transferred to a time advantage of twenty seconds. For Mr Potter this means he has six minutes advantage on Mr Diggory and so on, so even those behind in the ranking can become the winner. Now we'll send Mr Potter off into his task."

A cannon fired by Filch was the signal for Harry to start. He knew he had a six minutes head-start from Cedric and Viktor would follow another one minute and forty seconds later. Fleur again would have to wait five minutes after Viktor. Well, he didn't intend to let them get anywhere near the Cup. He didn't want to endanger anybody who didn't have anything to do with his mission.

* * *

When Harry had spent a few minutes in the maze he became irritated.

"Doesn't Crouch think I can get past the obstacles by myself? This is boring. I know they want me to win this thing but after my performance in the first two tasks I had hoped for some more action." Harry complained.

Then Harry finally met one obstacle. One of Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewts.

"Oh goody, one of the menaces. I hope Hagrid won't be too disappointed if this one doesn't make it back. Well, the weak point is the soft underside."

Harry blasted a hole in the ground in front of the Skrewt, conjured oil in the hole and let the Skrewt walk over it. Then he used a strong _incendio_ to put fire on it. The Skrewt didn't seem to like his own medicine. Harry easily passed it now.

He again had a boring passage until he came upon a glimmering field. His identification spell could only tell him that it contorted reality somewhat if you entered it. Well, he could deal with disturbances to his senses. He ran into the field, ignored the feeling of standing upside down and then left it soon after.

"Well that was easy. I wonder what the other obstacles that I didn't have to do would have been." Harry pondered before beginning to run again.

The next thing he saw was a dementor gliding towards him.

"This is more like it. _Expecto Patronum!_" He said the incantation and his silver stag burst from the tip of his wand.

The dementor seemed to be frightened of his patronus and stumbled over his own cloak to get away.

"It would have been too nice to have a real challenge for once. Not even a real dementor. _Riddikulus._" He said, vanquishing the boggart.

"I'm so going to complain with the fake Moody when this is over and we question him at headquarters. I wanted to test my abilities not have the Cup served on a silver platter."

Finally Harry saw one creature that would at least challenge him somewhat, a sphinx.

"Yeah, the first real challenge in this maze!" He exclaimed happily.

"You're a strange one, young wizard. Not many are happy to face the challenge of one of my kind." She said.

"Well, I really wanted to test my abilities in this task. But all I came upon were easy obstacles, I met a Skrewt, that was the topic of a big part of my Magical Creatures Class this year, I had to beat a boggart, third year stuff, the upside down corridor, simply ignoring the confusion. You have to agree with me, after facing a dragon in the first task and merpeople in the second, that wasn't very impressive." Harry told her.

"True, young wizard. I guarantee that my riddle will challenge you more. Are you ready?"

"Yes." He answered.

"_First think of the person who lives in disguise  
__Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.  
__Next, tell what's always the last thing to mend,  
__The middle of middle and end of the end?  
__And finally give me the sound often heard  
__During the search of a hard-to-find word.  
__Now string them together and answer me this,  
__Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"_

"Right this is more like it. Let's start in the beginning. The first two lines refer to a spy, disguise, lying and secrets are normal for one. The second part, hm, ah I see it's to be taken literally. The last thing to mend is the letter d, same with middle of middle and end of the end, so I have to put the letter d behind spy. A sound often heard during the search of a hard-to-find word, there are two, 'hm' and 'er'. In combination with Spy-d- only 'er' makes sense.

"The answer is spider." Harry answered the sphinx.

"That is correct." She said and stepped aside and allowed him to pass her.

"Okay, keep the spider in mind; it could be a clue to the next obstacle." Harry said to himself.

He walked forward and soon saw the shining Triwizard Cup in the centre of a ring of hedges.

"Nice, I'm here." He said, steeling himself for the meeting with Voldemort.

Then he saw a movement near him and turned around swiftly only to see one of the acromantula from the forest. He grinned evilly. He had always wanted to have a little payback at one of them for trying to eat Ron and him in their second year.

He first tried a stunner, then an _impedimenta_ jinx, which both didn't really work.

"Alright, bigger guns." He said.

He conjured a fire whip, a spell he had longed to try in a combat situation but he didn't have an opponent he could safely use it against. The spider began to stink of burnt chitin and flesh and ran away shrieking.

"That was good. Hopefully none of the others gets in its way while it's hurting, well; I have reached my goal, now onto Voldy's party." Harry said, grabbing the Cup and being whisked away.

* * *

Harry arrived at the graveyard and soon recognized it was a really old one. The dates on the graves went back to 1400 or so. Harry had his wand ready. He looked out for any movement. Just where did Voldemort hide? Then he was faced with a red spell, which he shielded against the last moment.

'Whew, that was close.' He thought.

He fired a fast stunner back in direction of the spell and got a shield reaction. Then he dodged a new spell. Wow, he was glad that Malfoy was controlled by the potion. He was really good. He obviously had disillusioned himself to have it easier to get Harry. Well, the plan was to put up a good fight and be stunned after some time. Harry did just that.

When he awoke again, he was bound to a headstone.

"Ah, Harry Potter, you're finally awake." The voice of Voldemort came from a small bundle of cloth next to Malfoy on the ground.

"Voldemort, I should have known something was amiss. It was too easy to get to the Cup. Let me guess, you had the one who put my name in the Goblet and forced me into the Tournament help me in secret." Harry said.

"Oh, aren't you a smart one. You would have done well in Ravenclaw. Yes, my loyal servant made sure you were the first one to reach the Cup. I just didn't want to take any risks even if you did really well in the first two tasks. Let me ask you a question. Just to satisfy my curiosity. Would you have entered the Tournament on your own if you had had the chance?"

"Only if I had had the additional experience of the other champions. I have done so much work this year just to catch up it isn't even funny. And it wasn't even my OWL year. You couldn't just have waited until after I had them, couldn't you?"

"Ah, the same cheek your father always had. But it's time, Harry Potter; you'll help me to be reborn." Voldemort said before Malfoy lifted the body and dropped it into the cauldron.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son." Malfoy chanted and pointed his wand at the grave plate under Harry's feet and a fine trickle of dust flew into the cauldron.

Then Malfoy held his left hand above the cauldron, holding a knife in the other.

"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master." He said and cut his own hand, which splashed into the cauldron.

'I wonder if there will be a complication because Malfoy is under the controlling potion and not truly willing.' Harry thought.

Malfoy stopped the bleeding with his wand. Then he walked over to Harry, who looked into the eyes of the controlled man, triggering the order he had been given beforehand.

"Right arm under the shoulder." He quietly ordered.

Malfoy held the dagger up to the mentioned point.

"Blood of the enemy, forcefully taken, you'll resurrect your foe." He incantated before piercing the blood bottle, getting the needed blood.

He walked back to the cauldron and let the drops of blood fall into it. Then a bright light came from the cauldron and Malfoy shielded his eyes. Harry just closed his to be able to see properly after the light ceased. Finally the light spectacle stopped and Harry heard Voldemort's voice.

"Robe me!" He ordered Malfoy, who conjured a black robe for his master, who at the moment stood in front of the cauldron naked.

'Not a view I want to ever see again.' Harry thought disgusted.

"Now, Harry Potter, let's talk properly, face to face." Voldemort said ignoring Malfoy, who knelt beside him.

"I'm finally back again. The wonders a proper ritual can do to bring you back from the existence as a wraith. Of course I needed the bones of my father, a foolish muggle who lived in the manor at the hill." He waved his hand at the old house. "So we had to come here. To the place where my own family never even mentioned me. Well, they paid for it when I came for them and killed them. Oh yes, it was sweet revenge. Dear Lucius found me in Albania, where I was hiding again. Just a rumour of my location brought him there. I'll reward him for his loyalty. Lord Voldemort rewards loyalty. But he also punishes impertinence. _Crucio_!" He shouted, pointing his wand at Harry, who barely managed to prevent screaming loudly.

Obviously Voldemort was content with the punishment of Harry for now and let him be.

"Impressive. Not many can keep themselves from screaming out loud. Don't worry, I'll teach you that lesson before you die, Harry, but for now, let me call the rest of my true family." He said and went to Malfoy.

"Lucius, your arm." He said and Malfoy held his left arm out for Voldemort to see.

"It's back in full strength. Now we'll see. We'll see how many of my loyal followers dare to come and how many are foolish enough to stay away."

He touched the black dark mark on Lucius' left arm. Harry meanwhile had already cut the ropes holding him and just kept standing in front of the gravestone to make Voldemort think he had the upper hand. He had everything planed. He just needed to send the signal that everything was ready and his teammates from the MI6 would portkey to their location and help him take out as many Death Eaters as possible. He silently summoned his primary wand back into his hand.

Only moments after Voldemort called his followers they appeared in their black Death Eater robes with white masks. Harry wanted to grin at the fact that some were missing. They hadn't escaped Azkaban yet after being arrested after the World Cup. For once the Ministry hadn't taken bribes. Fudge needed to appear strong for the election after all. And imprisoning those responsible for the incidents made him look good. The poor man needed every little positive press he could get after the Umbridge disaster.

"My friends, again, after thirteen years of separation we are united under the Dark Mark." Voldemort said.

Harry thought this was the perfect opportunity for him to call back-up. Now with them all being distracted with listening to Voldemort he activated the beacon Q had given to him that would inform the MI6 of his current location. He just needed to stay there until help arrived. Making sure nobody looked at him he used a disillusionment charm and disappeared from the gravestone. Voldemort had his back turned to him and was too engrossed punishing his less than faithful followers for abandoning him. Why those idiots put up with him if he constantly put them under the torture curse Harry couldn't understand.

"Only one of you came to find me, Lucius here found me in Albania. Lucius, you have served me well and made my return possible. You'll be rewarded beyond belief."

Voldemort waved his wand and a new silver hand replaced the one that had been sacrificed for the ritual.

"Thank you, my Lord, I live to serve you." He intoned and took his place in the circle.

"One other is to be mentioned in my successful return. My loyal servant at Hogwarts, who made the Triwizard Cup into a portkey to bring me Harry Potter." Voldemort turned towards the gravestone, only to find the ropes cut and Harry missing.

"Find him, I'll show everybody, that thinking Harry Potter could defeat me, Lord Voldemort, was a fool. It was only a slight oversight on my part that made his survival possible. That boy has no special powers. Find him, I'll prove my superiority." He thundered.

Harry sat behind the gravestone he had been tied to. Nobody would think to look for an escapee at the place from where he escaped from after all. Not even stupid wizards. And his back up should arrive any moment now. For now he watched the Death Eaters shooting spells all around, trying to find him.

* * *

At Hogwarts chaos reigned. The alarm that the Cup had been found and claimed by one of the champions made the hedges sink into the ground. But instead of one champion proudly presenting the trophy, the spectators only saw the three older champions in the midst of battling a creature or getting past an obstacle. Only Harry was missing.

About ten minutes into the search for the Cup and Harry Potter, Severus Snape suddenly grabbed his left arm and hissed in pain. Dumbledore looked at him pointedly, knowing what this reaction meant. His worst fear had come true, Voldemort was back and as it looked like, he had Harry.

"He is calling everybody to him." Snape said.

"I see. We'll wait to see if Harry returns. I just hope he can escape wherever he is. I don't know how this could have happened." Dumbledore said.

* * *

Meanwhile Steven Carter and Aurora Sinistra had stunned the fake Moody. He had been concentrating on Dumbledore and the officials who were pondering what could have happened. She swiftly took away his wand, a spare wand, an emergency portkey, a flask of polyjuice potion and Carter bound him with ropes. They would just wait until the potion wore off. This was a crucial part of the operation; keeping the fake Moody from escaping. What happened to him would vastly depend on the success of the team at the graveyard. If they got the remaining Death Eaters and Voldemort, they would just make them vanish. No need for the public to be frightened.

The efficient way to deal with terrorists was to prevent them from becoming a public problem. They had the perfect opportunity to get the remaining Death Eaters in one swoop. Agent Potter had hopefully fulfilled his part and given them the location and time.

* * *

The MI6 team was twenty people strong, each of them equipped with basilisk armour under their battle suits. Three of them were high level agents. Sirius Black, Travis Canterbury and Felicia Richards. The last two muggleborns who didn't accept the treatment they got in the wizarding world even if they outperformed their pureblood classmates easily. The first one horribly wronged by the world he had protected before. The other seventeen were well trained and rained down on the unsuspecting Death Eaters and from the twenty or so Death Eaters Harry had counted, seven immediately fell to stunners, blasting hexes, grenades and cutting curses.

The others managed to dodge but four more were injured by the surprise assault.

"Stand together, my loyal Death Eaters. We'll show them that we are not defeated by the likes of them!" Voldemort yelled, casting curses everywhere.

This was Harry's signal to act. He threw counters to Voldemort's spells and shielded his comrades. By doing so he lost his disillusionment charm.

"Harry Potter, so you're behind this!" Voldemort hissed.

"Did you really think I wouldn't investigate why somebody would put my name in the Goblet but didn't make sure that I was severely handicapped if they wanted to kill me? I got suspicious after the first task. It was too easy to get past the dragon. If somebody wanted me dead they would have enraged the dragon additionally. Or the second task; by hiding knowledge by taking it out of the library they could have handicapped me more. But the perfect way to solve the task was given to my friend early in the school year. It was easy to figure out that Moody was a fake after that.

"As the reason for entering me wasn't to kill me, I prepared for something strange happening at the third task. Well, I was right and the precaution I took was having back up at my call and having the means to escape any bounds possible."

"It doesn't matter; I'm far more powerful and skilled than you are. Nobody will step in front of you like your worthless mudblood mother did." Voldemort sneered and cast the cruciatus curse at Harry, who countered with a blasting hex.

Then something nobody had expected happened. The two spells hit each other and then connected.

"What the hell?" Harry asked, holding onto his wand.

The connection glowed golden and phoenix song sounded around them. Then both duellists were lifted in the air while the fights between the Death Eaters and the agents temporarily stopped. There were only five Death Eaters left standing, the others were too severely injured or knocked out. Harry couldn't tell if some had died.

"What is this trick?" Voldemort demanded to know.

"Hey, you're the wizard nearing seventy. Don't expect me to know this, I'm just fourteen!" Harry yelled back, making the remaining fighters sweat drop.

Around the two a golden sphere built and beads of light appeared on the connection between the wands. The MI6 agents were faster at recovering and returned to take out the Death Eaters getting three of the five by surprise and easily overwhelmed the last ones. Soon all of them were bound, stunned and were force fed a sleeping potion.

Harry instinctively knew that he needed to push the beads into Voldemort's wand. So he concentrated all his will power on achieving that one goal.

At the ground two agents suddenly were confronted with Nagini, Voldemort's snake. She attacked and tried to bite them. Normal cutting curses seemed to fail against the beast. Finally Sirius hit it with an Avada Kedavra. The snake fell dead on the ground. What nobody had expected was a black mist rising and shrieking horribly.

"I don't believe it; he made his snake a horcrux." Sirius said.

He looked up to his godson, who was still in a battle of will against Voldemort. The effects the wrong blood should have on Voldemort's body would appear soon with him using up that much magic against Harry.

Harry finally managed to push one bead onto the tip of Voldemort's wand. The wand began spewing out spells it had done in reverse order. And Harry could finally see the exhaustion showing on Voldemort's pale face.

Then it contorted into pain, then agony. The wand continued reversing the spells it did, making shadows of killed people appear. There was the old muggle from Harry's dream, Bertha Jorkins and then his mother and his father.

"Harry, you have done really well, we are so proud of you." His mother said.

"Yes, son, you have chosen the way of the protector. You chose to be the warrior so others could live in peace. I couldn't be prouder of you. And I'm glad Sirius got you out from the Dursleys. I don't know what Dumbledore thought placing you there, we never wanted that." His father said.

"Harry, we don't have much time, know we'll always love you and support you. Change the wizarding world for the better." His mother told him smiling lovingly at him.

"I'll, I promise you, Mum, Dad." Harry said with tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

Both his parents smiled at him.

"It's time to break the connection, Harry." His father said.

Harry nodded and jerked his wand upwards interrupting the connection. He drew his second wand to shoot a disarming charm at Voldemort, who was too surprised to deflect the spell. Harry soon followed up with a blasting hex. Voldemort was thrown back. Harry stopped casting spells as the plan needed Voldemort bound to a body. A body that was weakened by the botched up ritual. Harry calmly walked up to the beaten man.

"This is impossible. I'm the strongest wizard. I can't be beaten by a mere boy!" Voldemort ranted trying to get up but failing at that.

Three agents conjured ropes to bind him while others put anti-apparition charms on him.

"How?" Voldemort asked, only to flinch in agony again.

"Should I tell him or would it endanger the mission?" Harry asked Sirius.

"We have succeeded. You can tell him. He needs to be brought back to reality." Sirius answered, smiling proudly at the result his godson had achieved.

"You lost before the fight even began, Tom. We know the secret behind your ability to cheat death. We haven't yet managed to destroy all of your horcruxes, we are still missing two" Harry said to be interrupted by Sirius.

"One, Harry, I killed his snake, which turned out to be the last horcrux we didn't know what it was. We just need to get the one we know the location of and get rid of the one in your scar, then he is mortal again." Sirius updated Harry's information.

Voldemort's eyes widened.

"Yes, in your ignorance and arrogance you split your soul to the point where it was so instable that when you tried to kill me as a baby part of your soul latched onto me. I'm your seventh horcrux, but not for long, one of the scientists working for the same employer I'm working for, found a solution to get it out without killing me. All what happened tonight was a set-up from the start. And your puppet at Hogwarts, which should already be apprehended by my superior agent at Hogwarts, made it even easier by getting the obstacles out of the way. This way I could be sure that none of the others were in danger of getting to the Cup before me."

"Why am I in so much pain, what did you do?" Voldemort demanded to know.

Harry pulled the pierced blood bottle from under his arm.

"You never got my blood. This is the blood of a creature living in the jungles of the Amazon which is highly acidic outside the body of its original host. We don't know much about the beast, we were lucky one of our top agents managed to knock it out before it killed him. Tests in the lab showed the properties of the blood. Your lapdog Malfoy has been under a controlling potion for months now. It works similar to the imperius curse but it's harder to break as you need to neutralize the potion completely. Even those who are immune to the imperius can be controlled by the potion. I should know, I was Q's guinea pig." Harry said, gaining laughs from the other agents.

"No, it can't be. I'm Lord Voldemort. I'm immortal. Even if you kill me I'll come back."

"No, you're Tom Marvolo Riddle, son of Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle. You're a man, deceived by your own delusions of grandeur. You're a murderer. You aren't the saviour of the wizarding world you always pretended to be. If the pureblood families followed your doctrine, wizards would be dying out in Britain in two or three generations. The blood is too weak." Sirius stated matter of factly.

"You'll just disappear together with your followers. We'll take care of those in Azkaban. None of them will survive the next month. Harry already has enough political power to change the wizarding government. And with the information his grandmother Dorea and my aunt Cassiopeia have collected over the decades they were politically active, he can overturn the corrupt government. All your remaining followers came here tonight. The sympathizers will fall soon. And you'll die without the public ever knowing you were still alive. No reason to raise a panic."

With that Francis stunned Voldemort and the agents took care of securing and taking away all the Death Eaters except Malfoy. He was meant to go back with Harry to present the perfect ruse.

"You sure you can get the next part done alone, Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Sure, Sirius. I know the plan and with me looking like I do, they will easily believe me that Malfoy tried some botched up ritual in the delusion he could bring Voldemort back. With my memories backing the story up even Fudge can't cover up this. And he will fall with Malfoy as everybody knows he is his main advisor."

"Good luck, Harry, we'll see you at headquarters after the year ends. Aurora will inform you about the things happening."

Harry nodded, summoned the Cup and disappeared from the graveyard.

* * *

**So that was that. Did you like it? Next time will be back to normal update schedule.**


	11. Pulling Wool Over Eyes

**Hi everybody. Here is chapter eleven. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Pulling Wool over Eyes**

Harry and Malfoy's beaten body reappeared at Hogwarts and Harry gave a good show of being exhausted. All the people in the near proximity came running towards them.

"Harry!" He heard several shouts.

Then he saw Professor Dumbledore coming towards him and he knew the show had begun. He waited until the old wizard had reached him. Harry held out Malfoy's wand for Dumbledore to take.

"He was behind it, Professor. He was the mastermind behind getting me in the Tournament. He had an accomplice here at the castle. Professor Moody isn't really Professor Moody; he is a fake, somebody under polyjuice." Harry reported.

"What, preposterous!" Fudge, who had also arrived, shouted.

"It's the complete truth, Minister. I'd swear an oath on that. At the moment I'm too exhausted though. I'd like to postpone that until later. From what he told me while he prepared a dark ritual, he was under the delusion that he could bring Voldemort back to life with it"

Here several people shouted out in fear. The prospect of Voldemort returning was terrifying.

"Let me finish. It didn't work like he hoped. Either he botched the ritual up or it wasn't working from the beginning. But still, after he took some of my blood for the ritual, no need to fall all over me, I already healed the cut on my arm…" Harry stopped many from inspecting him for major injuries "…well, I managed to free myself with a hidden knife I had on me for the third task. Then in the confusion I got some good hits on him until he began fighting back. We duelled for some time, but my early hits and the spells I learned for the Tournament enabled me to outlast him and finally stunning him." Harry reported.

"You mean no others were there?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, he was the only Death Eater I saw there. And I thought for a moment to see a ghostly image of Voldemort, but that soon disappeared. He probably was too far away."

Dumbledore looked sceptical.

"How did he get the silver hand?" He asked.

"Well, the ritual had three main components. It was a potion. He performed it in a cemetery. He used bone of Voldemort's father, unknowingly given, flesh of the servant willingly given and blood of the enemy forcefully taken; well the blood was the part he needed me for and the flesh was his hand. He first stopped his bleeding and then he somehow put that hand in the place of the old one. I didn't get that spell, Professor Dumbledore. I had just woken up from the stunner he shot at me."

"I understand. We need to get the fake Professor Moody before he escapes. Minerva, Severus." He called the two to do the job.

"Headmaster, that won't be necessary." Aurora Sinistra called out being followed by Steven Carter, levitating the stunned fake Moody towards them.

"I saw him behaving suspect and casting spells into the maze. So Steven and I used a moment he concentrated on the maze to stun him. I found his flask filled with polyjuice potion. He should transform back soon." She reported.

"Excellent work, Aurora, Mr Carter. This solves one major problem. Now we just need to find the real Moody." Dumbledore said pleased.

"Dumbledore, you can't just decide to take over this. We need to call the aurors and a dementor to protect me." Fudge said.

"If I even see one glimpse of a dementor on the school grounds." Harry began growling, making the Minister shut up immediately.

This boy was too dangerous to aggravate. He had just caught his main advisor trying to resurrect the Dark Lord, duelled him and survived it. And he managed to return to school to tell the story.

"How did you get back here, Mr Potter?" Fudge asked.

"I summoned the Triwizard Cup that had worked as a portkey to take me to that cemetery. I hoped it would be working two ways and I was lucky. Otherwise it would have been really difficult to come back, Minister." Harry reported truthfully.

"Alright, but I'll summon the aurors." He said.

"That I'll completely support." Harry said. "And make sure to interrogate them under veritaserum." He added.

The Minister flinched. Interrogating Malfoy under veritaserum would reveal the bribes he had taken for passing laws Malfoy wanted passed or blocking those Malfoy wanted blocked. With him already being under scrutiny, this would be the end of his career as Minister of Magic.

* * *

The next day after breakfast Dumbledore called Harry into his office.

"Please sit down, Harry. Do you want a lemon drop?" He asked.

Harry sat down in the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"No, thank you, Professor."

"Harry, I want to tell you how sorry I'm for what you had to go through yesterday. I never even suspected Alastor to be the one getting you into the Tournament. I originally hired him for the Defence against the Dark Arts post to have additional protection at the school. I was wary of Professor Karkaroff, who has been a Death Eater in the past. And it was Alastor Moody who caught him back then before the Ministry made a deal with him to decrease his sentence for information on other Death Eaters. So I thought he would be perfect to help increase security. I never found anything strange about his behaviour during the year. We found out after questioning him that he had imprisoned Alastor in his own trunk for the whole year to have a supply of hair for the potion and to learn his habits to fool everybody."

"Your intention was good in that case. As he was the headmaster of Durmstrang, you couldn't refuse letting Karkaroff coming to Hogwarts. I read the Tournament rules early in the year to know what was going on for me and found that rule. And I can't hold you responsible for getting the one man known to be able to deal with him, if he was dangerous, for the DADA spot. I already told you my opinion about the measure to prevent underage students from participating." Harry said evenly.

"Yes, you did. I wanted to ask you about the things that really happened yesterday. I know that Voldemort has come back. The Dark Mark has reappeared at Karkaroff's arm." Dumbledore looked firmly into Harry's eyes with Harry returning the look without backing down.

"Professor Snape told you his mark was back you mean." Harry calmly countered the point.

"How do you know Professor Snape was a Death Eater once?" Dumbledore asked without showing surprise.

"Reports on Death Eater trials. Very interesting reading material. Did you know that my godfather Sirius Black never had a trial? Yet he was thrown into Azkaban."

"The evidence was absolutely clear." Dumbledore said.

"No, it wasn't. You know, I have a nice contact in the Ministry who got me the report on the investigation on the crime scene after the thirteen muggles were killed. The officials on site messed up. They never checked Sirius' wand with _priori incantatem_. They never even thought about the simple impossibility that an explosion from a blasting hex in combination with a gas line couldn't completely vanish a body leaving only a finger. After all the corpses of the muggles were left there and they were closer to the gas line. Any blasting hex, even at point blank, leaves more remains, like pools of blood at the least, some flesh remains, bone splinters and so on. I single cleanly cut finger is not possible to be the single remaining part of a body. That would have needed a completely different spell that disintegrated Pettigrew's whole body from the inside out and that would have left nothing but the clean robes. That leaves only one conclusion: Pettigrew escaped from there. I have been interested in this; I think you can understand the reason. So I decided to write Sirius a letter asking for answers. As he was thought to be the one responsible for my parent's death by betraying their location to Voldemort I had a right to some answers. And nobody ever really answers my questions fully." This was a clear jab at Dumbledore's policy of keeping too many secrets.

"His response was very interesting. He was completely innocent. He and Pettigrew changed positions the last moment, building the perfect bluff. Sirius played decoy to fool Voldemort and his followers, Peter was safe and therefore keeping us safe. Sadly Peter was a Death Eater and betrayed us. Sirius hunted him down after Hagrid refused to hand me over after getting me out of my parents' house. When he cornered him, Peter blamed everything on him; that is the reason the muggles who were questioned gave those answers, blasted up the street behind him, transformed into a rat and disappeared into the gutters. The letter was ended with an oath that it was the truth."

"He can't be an animagus. We would know it." Dumbledore interrupted Harry.

"You can ask Professor Lupin. He will confirm this. All of the marauders learned to become animagi to keep Professor Lupin company during the nights of the full moon. They couldn't do it as humans, but they were safe while being animals. My father was a stag, Sirius a dog and Peter a rat."

Harry knew if he gave Dumbledore something to think about he would forget about other questions he had. Harry needed to keep Dumbledore on certain paths for now.

"I'll look into this, Harry. But I can't promise anything. Now back to my question, what did really happen at the cemetery?"

"I told you already what happened. Malfoy had a potion in a really big cauldron at the place. I think he didn't really await me that early and I managed to hit him once before he stunned me. I woke up bound to a gravestone with the name Tom Riddle on it. Malfoy used the three parts I already told you about. Bones, flesh and my blood. He put everything into the cauldron and told me Voldemort would return and they would conquer wizarding Britain."

"Harry, it's important to tell me if Voldemort is back. We need to warn to public to have them prepare." Dumbledore tried to argue.

"That is why you're a better teacher than war general, Professor." Harry stopped Dumbledore, shocking him with this argument. "And even as a teacher you haven't done your best. Well, I have to specify that part, as headmaster you didn't, as Transfiguration teacher I heard you were great."

"What makes you think that?" Dumbledore asked taken aback.

"Easy. To be the best headmaster you could be you would have had to concentrate on that job. But you're also the head of the Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW. That's three high-ranking and time-intensive jobs. With you not investing all your time into the betterment of Hogwarts, the Board had it easy to manipulate affairs to their liking. How often did Madam Hooch complain about the state of the school brooms, but the Board always denies the funds for new ones? Why has the method of teaching Potions been changed dramatically after you took over the post of headmaster? Before the subject was changed to the current method, students learned the basics in the first year like how to properly prepare ingredients, how certain ways of stirring influenced the potions and which ingredients reacted harshly with which others.

"Now Snape just tells us the instructions are on the board, to get the ingredients and get started brewing. The man may be a genius at Potions but he is a terrible teacher. In my opinion, you should have employed him for researching potions for the betterment of the wizarding world and to keep the hospital wing stocked and not as Potions teacher. That man can't teach, he is biased towards Slytherin, bullies all other students especially Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs and makes those already unsure of their abilities even more nervous so they mess up things.

"If you don't believe me, I can show you my memories from all my Potions classes since first year. I have noticed you have a pensieve in your office; that would do to prove my point."

Dumbledore was shocked into silence. He hadn't expected the talk turning in that direction.

"Following my original argument, you're mainly a teacher who has taken up too many political posts. In the muggle world, having one political post excludes you from having another to prevent corruption, neglect of duty and misuse of power. In your case it's mainly neglect of duty. I can understand that many people looked up to you for guidance after you defeated Grindelwald. But your reluctance to duel him earlier than 1945 and to kill him, shows that you're not meant to be a leader in war." Harry gave Dumbledore a few seconds to digest that hammer blow then he pressed on.

"Let me ask you, how familiar are you with the Nuremberg Trials?"

Dumbledore didn't know why Harry wanted to know this but decided to answer what he knew about them.

"They were the trials the winners of the muggle World War II held to punish the culprits of the war." He answered.

"Do you know what the punishments were?"

"Not really. The trials for the followers of Grindelwald were held at the same time, so we were just concerned for them being punished."

"Most of them died by hanging. The victors of the war knew that they were too dangerous to be left alive. They were too guilty to be left alive. They were responsible for the death of millions of people, just because they were easy scapegoats. They based their doctrine on racism. Don't you recognize the similarities? Hitler, Grindelwald and Riddle were racists. They played on an existing superstition. They used the despised part of the population, old insecurities of those with money or jealousy of those without it to get as far as they did.

"While killing just for killing someone is wrong, letting people who killed for fun getting away with it is the worst sin you can commit as the leader in a war. You spit on the victims, you spit on their sacrifices and you spit on the survivors for letting those who took their loved ones away get away to do it again. You can't win a war with stunning your enemies; you have to make sure they stay down. It's really easy to enervate a stunned person. But healing a broken leg or two or stopping intense bleeding before the fight is over is a lot harder." Harry pointed out.

"So you would condone killing the Death Eaters, I had thought better of you, Harry." Dumbledore said.

"Guilt tripping me doesn't work, Professor, and neither does putting your head in the sand and refusing to see realities. If you wanted someone who would never hurt a fly, you shouldn't have left me at the Dursleys. You can be glad I didn't turn dark like Voldemort. That could easily have happened. Abused children tend to retaliate. I just have a really pragmatic outlook on life." Harry brushed Dumbledore's words away.

Dumbledore cringed at the mention of Harry being abused by his relatives.

"My opinion is that the protection of innocents is a lot more important than the rights the culprits have. You can't turn a person who killed for pleasure. That person has to either be killed or shut away without any chance of return. And from what Azkaban is like, killing them is more merciful. Most die either way after some time there. You could stop their suffering by pushing them through the veil like it was done in ancient times. You just have to make sure that you're one hundred per cent sure of them being guilty. But as we have veritaserum and the possibility to review memories, that should be easy to arrange.

"If you want to have the wizarding world stay in the middle ages, then you have to use the middle aged punishments. You say you want to protect muggleborns, but you disadvantage them at school by cutting lessons they really need to get used to their new lives. You have them use damaged brooms while the pureblood children learn to fly at home at proper brooms. For halfbloods it depends on which family they belong to and what connections the family is willing to use to have them succeed in life. But back to muggleborns." Harry knew this was hard for the headmaster to hear, but it was high time that he lost his rose-coloured glasses.

"You allow the bigots to call them mudblood without really punishing them. The house-point system is so abused I wonder how other houses than Slytherin manage to win the Cup. Oh yeah, I remember, Gryffindor won the last three years because somehow my friends and I got a lot of last minute points, except for third year, where the Quidditch Cup was the deciding factor. Why don't you separate the Quidditch Cup from the House Cup? Why are the Professors allowed to give or take points for ridiculous events? I can prove Snape took points away for breathing too loudly when he was in a foul mood.

"Why are students allowed to bully others and get away with it? Luna Lovegood is bullied by her own house because she is different. And the Slytherins happily join the bullying. Do you want them to become Death Eaters? Because that will happen if they are allowed to get away with things. You have the opportunity to prevent it. Hell, they spend three quarters of the year at Hogwarts. The behaviour they learn here will reflect their future behaviour. Slytherin should be about ambition and cunning, but it's only about bulling those weaker than them and getting others in trouble now. If you want to deny that opinion, go into the Great Hall and ask the first Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff you meet for their opinion of Slytherin house and Snape. It will confirm my complaints."

Now Albus was cornered. He knew Severus' teaching wasn't optimal but he didn't think he abused the point system like Harry described it.

"I see you don't believe me; disillusion yourself and visit a lesson in Potions with Gryffindor or Hufflepuff students. Then you'll see what I mean. If you want to help our world, as I think you do, start preventing new Death Eaters growing up at Hogwarts. Voldemort may have been really powerful, but the near downfall of wizarding Britain had other reasons, he was just the leader and the symbol. The problem goes deeper. And I have decided to cut the problem at the root. You may have noticed several older Slytherins and the occasional Ravenclaw being found in humiliating positions throughout this and last year. That is my way to show them what it's like to be bullied. I don't hurt them physically, but I'll always show them the humiliation. I'm sick of everything going down because those who should act responsibly are not doing their jobs properly." Harry pressed on.

The next shock. The teachers had believed the Weasley twins had been behind those incidents. The ways the ones being pranked were found were only embarrassing, not really hurtful and with Minerva, Filius and Pomona tending to agree that the victims did deserve it, nothing really had happened. Was he really allowing Death Eaters to grow?

"I think I gave you a lot to think about. You're in the position to better the society in Britain. Hogwarts is the location where most of the young witches and wizards learn magic. Use it wisely. Protecting them from attacks from outside isn't enough. You have to prevent violence at the inside. Bullying and name calling is the start. If you don't stop it there, it will develop to pranks, then to harmful pranks and then to violence. I have seen it with Dudley. My aunt and uncle never punished him, he got away with everything. By now he beats up the younger children in the neighbourhood and sells drugs to students at his school. It could have been prevented if the teachers at school and his parents had done something. Killers are not born; they are made and allowed to be made. Good day, headmaster." Harry said, standing up and leaving the room.

When the door had closed behind the boy, Albus sank into his chair and looked at Fawkes sadly.

"Did I really fail that badly? Did I overlook the obvious problems by looking at the bigger picture my friend?"

Fawkes trilled confirming. Albus head drooped. He had to do something. It was time for something to change if a fourteen year old boy had to point it out to him that something was wrong in the castle Hogwarts.

* * *

That evening the Great Hall was decorated splendidly. They had a good reason to celebrate. One of their own was the new Triwizard Champion. In front of the head table a pedestal had been placed for the ceremony of congratulating to take place. Minister Fudge wanted to use the opportunity to get some good publicity. He just didn't know when to quit.

"Dear students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. It's my honour and pleasure, even if this was planned for yesterday evening, to officially announce the Winner of the Triwizard Tournament. The Tournament was characterized by great ambition, plenty of courage and magic in all variations. Our champions faced dragons, the secrets in the deep waters of the Black Lake and a maze with several obstacles to overcome. In the end only one could win. Eternal glory for him and his school is said to be given to the winner together with a prize of one thousand galleons.

"You all know him; he has been praised for several great deeds, this time we honour him for proving himself against those more experienced than him, coming from a position of disadvantage he grew tremendously this year. I call forward the Triwizard Champion, from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry James Potter." Fudge ended his speech and tumultuous applause rose from all places in the Great Hall, even the Slytherins knew better than to disturb this event.

Harry clothed in his dress robes from the Yule ball walked into the hall through the doors. He had been told that he had to wait until he was announced. While he normally shied attention, this time he wanted to take it in. He had done something great. He had won the Tournament fair and square, without cheating in one of the tasks. Even the other champions applauded politely. He reached the pedestal and stood next to Fudge. He would let the man have one last highlight in his career.

"Mr Potter, congratulations to your victory. You'll be put in the book of victory as the winner of this tournament. Take the prize money, you have earned it."

"Thank you for your kind words, Minister Fudge. I can only say that I'm surprised how well I did in the Tournament, I was terrified in the beginning when my name came out of the Goblet of Fire. But thanks to the help of my great friends, who stood beside me all the time and helped me with research and training for the tasks, I managed to get through this. They also put up with my moods." He admitted, getting many to laugh.

"Don't we know it?" The Weasley twins chorused.

"I have learned a lot this year, which I doubt I'd have had without the motivation of being the underdog and the others having had three years of magical education on me. The history of champions having died in the Tournament didn't help to calm me down in the beginning either. I'm just glad that everything worked out so well. Thank you all for your support during the tasks. I also hope this isn't the last time I have seen the champions from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Throughout the Tournament I have got to know both Viktor and Fleur better and would like to stay in contact."

With that Harry ended his speech. He knew this was enough for now. The real battles would be fought elsewhere. He would continue with his training as a secret agent. He would finish his education at Hogwarts in the three remaining years. Now he could show off some more advanced spells and abilities. He would encourage the magical youth to follow his example. And then he would go out into the world to protect the innocent. Nobody would know about his accomplishments. That was the fate of a secret agent, but the reward was worth the sacrifice.

* * *

**So, that concludes fourth year. But it is just a step in Harry's career as a secret agent. There will be many more chapters ;)  
And currently I am working on this story again to write more chapters to be able to keep updating every two weeks.**


	12. Winning a Supporter

**Hi everybody. Here is the next chapter. Thanks for all your reviews and even those that didn't leave one as I have seen how many read the last chapter. Happy reading.**

* * *

**Winning a Supporter**

Harry lay on a surgery table in the MI6 headquarters. All around him stood the best medical experts and scientists the department had. Harry's eyes drooped when the anaesthesia began to work.

"Alright, he is ready. Hook him on the machines." Q ordered.

His orders were followed quickly. Harry's heartbeat was supervised as was his breathing. He got two more infusion lines into veins to make sure they could send drugs into any part of his body quickly.

"This has to be done with precision. What we attempt to do is an apparent death for three minutes. We'll also trigger a fast expulsion of the soul piece with a concoction that I have spent the last months developing. This will make the soul piece in his scar leave the body. As soon as the soul piece is out, we'll revive him. He will have to get back in form for some weeks as this will throw off his magical balance, but after that we can finally end the whole Voldemort episode." Q explained the procedure.

"Understood, sir." Were the answers from the assistants. Q had tested this method for four months and was finally sure enough to make it work for Harry.

"Well, first put five drops of the concoction on his scar, follow with infusing the second drug into his bloodstream, then start slowing his heart down." Q instructed, the assistant followed the orders and infused the drug that would have the intended effect into Harry's bloodstream.

Slowly Harry's heart rate decreased until it hit zero. Everybody around the surgery table was tense. This was the critical phase of the operation. Then a hissing was heard from Harry's forehead and the scar broke open.

"Shields!" Q ordered and they were brought up by semi-magical devices.

The soul piece was repelled by the shields and then disappeared shrieking.

"Hurry, hook him up on the antidote to the drug, we have got rid of the horcrux, now we need to pull Harry back into the land of the living." Q commanded.

Everybody did just that. The antidote was injected into Harry's bloodstream to neutralize the effects of the heart stopping drug. Q carefully took the time from the injection.

"Forty seconds are over. The drug is neutralized. Reanimation measures."

One assistant took over cardiac massage while another controlled the breathing machine.

Twenty four seconds later Harry's heart monitor began showing activity again.

* * *

From the observation room above cheers were heard when Q announced that the removal of the soul piece was a success and that Harry was still alive.

All the agents involved in the operation to get rid of Voldemort were present as well as M.

"Now all we have to do is get the last horcrux out of the Lestrange vault and kill the bastard. Then this dark episode of British history is over." He said satisfied.

"Very true. I'm really glad that we could prevent a war this time before it even started. Now we have to make sure to prevent another dark lord from rising in the near future." Sirius said.

"Yes, that will be Agent Potter's main duty for the next few years. He is the powerful public hero we need to influence things for a while. The magical government is about to elect the new Minister. Fudge is done for. We have enough dirt on the man to kill his political career thoroughly. We'll give that information in small doses to the Daily Prophet, Magic International and all the other important newspapers around the world. If Fudge has left a few brain cells he will withdraw from his candidature. If he does, we'll stop the influx of further damaging news. The good thing is that we don't need to pick up the structures after a war this time. It's a lot easier to take corruption down bit by bit than having to replace a whole government."

Sirius just nodded. He would wait until Harry awoke. He had already cleared with M that he would take three weeks off to go on vacation with Harry. Q had told them that Harry would be unable to attend any strenuous missions for four weeks. This included physical training. But he would be able to leave the hospital wing in one week.

* * *

Harry sat at the visitor balcony at the Wizengamot and watched the inauguration of Amelia Bones as Minister for Magic. Fudge had withdrawn from the election after the second negative article. Harry then had given some interviews at Diagon Alley and told them, when asked who he thought would make a good Minister, that he would like a candidate who had high moral standards and followed them personally. He had heard about briberies from rich wizards to high ranking Ministry officials and he thought that an incorruptible Minister would be invaluable. But he didn't want to name a person, because he didn't know them personally.

It had led to many discussions in the papers who would meet the characteristics Harry Potter thought important in a Minister. In the end only one Ministry official was found, that being Amelia Bones. She had been convinced by others to candidate, after all, how often had she complained about Fudge's mismanagement? More often than she cared to keep track of.

Harry had spent a wonderful vacation on the Azores with Sirius. As the only physical activity Harry was allowed by the doctors was swimming, Harry had taken a diving course at a local school and the two had explored the underwater world around the island they were staying at. He had got a new update for his languages so he had been able to communicate with the locals without problems. Tropical islands were just great in his opinion. And the barely clothed girls there were simply beautiful.

Now with his OWL year approaching, he had been really surprised to find out that Dumbledore had obviously taken his rant about the bigotry and problems with Potions to heart. The book lists had two new books for Potions on them, one of them about the basics for ingredient preparation, processes and so on. Harry was glad that finally something was done for the lack of proper instruction in the subject. He just hoped that Snape had given up teaching all together.

When Harry left his seat, he was intercepted by Professor Dumbledore.

"Ah hello, Harry, I was wondering if you would be here to see the inauguration of our new Minister." He said smiling.

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore. Well, I could hardly pass up on the chance to see history being written. From what I have found out about Madam Bones she seems to be perfect to clean the Ministry from the shady procedures that have gone on there for too long." Harry answered also smiling.

"Yes, I read the interview you gave at Diagon Alley some time ago. I was surprised that you spoke with reporters. You normally avoided them."

"It's hard to completely avoid them when I'm in public. Especially after I won the Triwizard Tournament. I found it easier to tell them some things so they don't bother me too much. Those reporters that asked me about the elections, I told they could ask me five questions that I'd answer as long as they weren't too personal. It worked well enough. I hope it will pass once the hype about me winning the Triwizard has ceased a bit. At least we don't have reporters at school." He said shaking his head.

"Yes, that is a positive thing. I wanted to ask you something, Harry." Dumbledore said.

Harry nodded to his headmaster to proceed.

"As you know we always have problems finding a new teacher for the defence post. This year we also had to find two other new teachers. After our meeting I took the time to inspect Severus third year class and I'm ashamed to admit that you were right. I spoke with him and he blandly told me that he just didn't have the patience to teach dunderheads the delicate art of brewing if they didn't put in the necessary effort. We came to an agreement and Severus left to research new potions.

"For this year I managed to get Professor Slughorn, an old colleague of mine, to take the post back. I just wanted to give you a, well warning is too hard a word, but a heads up. Horace is a collector. He doesn't collect cups or chocolate frog cards but famous students. He likes to be connected to those who are going to go far in the world. He is sure to try collecting you. So I thought it would be best to inform you beforehand."

Harry agreed with Dumbledore. He knew about Slughorn. The man was a competent teacher and a Slytherin to the core, cunning and ambitious, but not into the dark arts. He could be good to bring house Slytherin back into line.

"I have heard of him. He was teacher for Potions when my parents were at Hogwarts. I hope he can show the Slytherins that being bullies isn't the way to go far in life. I'm glad to hear you managed to find a better solution for Snape. Which other teachers did you find and which subject had to be found a teacher for except DADA?"

"History of Magic. I really took your advice to heart. I always wanted the students of Hogwarts to get the best possible education. That was the ambition I had when I took the post of headmaster. I love being a teacher. So I asked Cuthbert Binns to finally retire and if he didn't want to move on to take a place in the castle. He decided he wanted to move on. So now I managed to get a German witch, whose mother is British but emigrated to Germany in the war against Voldemort with her family, to take over the post.

"You'll get your Hogwarts letter soon, but I wanted to tell you that you have been chosen as Gryffindor prefect together with Miss Granger. The reason I tell you this now is that I have decided to give the prefects additional duties. I want to arrange for each prefect to tutor the lower years in their house in the different subjects. They will also lead the first years around the school for their first week of classes to make sure they find their way around without problem. As I still don't know who I could get for the defence post I had hoped that with this system we would be able to at least help them to get the basics down."

"I think the general idea is good, but from the second term of the year it will be hard for the prefects to do this as the fifth and seventh years have OWLs and NEWTs respectively to study for. I have an idea how to solve the DADA teacher problem. With Madam Bones being the new Minister we have the perfect person to help us there. She was head of the DMLE and has a big interest in properly educating potential future aurors. Why don't you ask her if we could get a graduate from the auror academy for a year? It could be a part of getting the graduate experience and we would have a proper instructor who knows about the difficulties of students learning defence as he or she wouldn't be out of school that long."

Dumbledore looked at Harry in wonder. The boy was a lot smarter than he had thought. Then he turned around as they were both called.

"Hello, Harry, Professor Dumbledore." Percy Weasley greeted them.

"Hello Percy; that was an impressive ceremony. I'm glad I could watch it." Harry said.

"Yes, it was. And Minister Bones has already called a meeting with all department heads. We are very busy at the moment as many people suddenly disappeared over the last months. We still don't know where they could have gone. Well, are you ready for the meeting you asked me for?" Percy asked.

"Yes, I am, Percy. Professor Dumbledore, thanks for the information but I fear I have to cut our conversation short here. I had arranged to meet with Percy after the ceremony to talk about some things." Harry said politely.

"That's not a problem, Harry. I wish you a nice remaining holiday. I'll see you at school. Good luck for your career at the Ministry, Mr Weasley." The old headmaster bid them farewell.

Harry turned to Percy.

"How long do you have time?" He asked.

"I'm finished for today. With the meeting surely taking until tonight all the employees of the Ministry have been given the day off as we'll get new instructions tomorrow. I believe massive changes will occur."

Harry nodded.

"Alright, please follow me." Harry said.

Harry led the older male to a deserted alley. He looked around and then handed Percy a handkerchief. Percy had been informed beforehand that they would take a portkey to get to the people Harry wanted him to meet. So he took one side of the handkerchief and waited for the portkey to activate, which it did with a tap from Harry's wand. They were both whisked away.

* * *

Harry and Percy landed in a bland room from which only one door led away.

"We have to wait for two minutes until they let us out of here. We'll be scanned for any weapons we might carry with us. Standard security protocols." Harry explained.

Percy nodded confused. He didn't really know why he was here, but Harry had convinced him that this was for the future of the wizarding world. After the scan was complete the door opened and two men came in.

"Mr Weasley, welcome to the headquarters of the MI6. We are the secret service of her Majesty, the Queen. Agent Potter recommended you to be one of our contacts for the betterment of our country. I'm M, the head of the department. This is Agent Black, one of our best agents. Please follow me; we have arranged for a meeting room, where we'll explain you what we want you to do for us."

Percy was stunned.

"Just follow us, Percy. I know this is a lot to take in, but I promise you'll understand everything when we have told you our information." Harry assured him.

Percy nodded and followed the three. He was led into a modern looking meeting room where tea and biscuits were waiting for them. They settled down and took some tea.

"Now, Mr Weasley, I'm sure you have many questions, the first surely being why you have been called here. Well the answer is simple. We need your help. As you probably know, the Minister of Magic always visits the Prime Minister once a new one is elected on either side. Minister Bones will soon visit Prime Minister Major to introduce herself to him. Our department has always known about magic and we employ several wizards and witches as agents for us.

"Most of them have been outstanding graduates but had difficulties to find appropriate jobs due to being 'of lower blood' as the traditional expression went. As I told you, we are in charge of the security of Great Britain. This includes the muggle world as you call it and the magical world. To be honest, the Ministry of Magic just didn't do its job properly in the past, so we decided that to protect the non-magical citizens of Britain we had to intervene. Your world was really close to have met the full force of the British military. Even Death Eaters are vulnerable to gun fire. Thankfully it never came to it as Voldemort fell to the sacrifice Lily Potter made to protect her son Harry.

"We have recruited Agent Potter the summer before his second year at Hogwarts School. He has been living with Agent Black since then, as Agent Black is his godfather. He was never properly tried and our investigations showed without a doubt that he didn't fire the curse that was responsible for the thirteen deaths that day. Peter Pettigrew was the one who fired the curse and killed those people. He had hidden himself well for twelve years until Agent Potter found him. You even know where he was, even if you didn't realize it. Pettigrew was an unregistered animagus. His form is a rat." M explained.

"Merlin, you mean Scabbers was?" Percy realized the implications made.

"Yes, I have a map of Hogwarts that shows me the true identity of all those being in the castle. Invisibility cloaks, disillusionment charms, polyjuice potion or animagi transformations don't fool the map. It was developed by my father, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew when they were at school. It's called the marauder's map. Sirius made new versions for us so we can use them to our advantage at the castle. I think Fred and George have found the original. It would explain their ability to get away with so much without being caught. We have also made maps of the important buildings in the muggle world. It's a convenient method of observation without invading people's privacy too much." Harry explained.

M continued.

"Mr Weasley, we have invited you because you're one of the few pureblood wizards who made it into the Ministry by your own merit, not because your family is rich nor has a lot of political influence. We know that you're ambitious and want to go far there. We completely support your endeavour but we want to show you something you need to know. What would you say is the main problem the British wizarding society has?" M asked.

Percy pondered the question.

"We have too few highly qualified witches and wizards in core subjects. Potions is a major part and I know History of Magic is also only known to some students properly." Percy answered.

"While that is a big problem it's only a symptom of the true problem. We have prepared some charts for you. Are you familiar with projectors?" Sirius asked.

"I have heard of them, but I don't know much." Percy admitted.

"Well, think of it as charts enlarged through a device so it can be seen on the wall." Sirius explained. "As you know, the wizarding world in Europe has been through two major wars this century. The first was against the dark lord Grindelwald, the second against the dark lord Voldemort. Both have in common that they used muggles and muggleborns as scapegoats for problems in society. They were dead wrong. Your parents never believed in the pureblood superiority crap and encouraged you and your siblings to mingle with all wizards and witches and don't think of muggles as inferior. Your family is one of the few pureblood families that do.

"But there lies a problem. If the doctrine of disadvantaging muggleborn witches and wizards doesn't stop soon and the pureblood families continue to inbreed, we'll lose most of our magical population in a few generations. Three at most." Sirius said, showing Percy the first chart.

The overall numbers of wizards and witches in Great Britain at the beginning of the century were shown and the massive decrease since then. Percy was shocked at the total numbers. While he theoretically knew that most pureblood families only had one child, he had never really thought what consequences this had for the overall population until now. And the numerical losses of the two wars were higher than he had thought.

"The problem is twofold. On the one hand the pureblood supremacists refuse to marry outside of pureblood families. That limits the gene pool, the basics that determine a person's being. From eye colour, height, stature, gender and potential; all is determined by genes. The wizarding world doesn't really know this but some have noticed that in the pureblood families fewer children are born or that the numbers of squibs has increased. Of course nobody really talks about it. It's no coincidence that most families only have one child. But with them having only one child the population would be cut in half every generation, if they were the only ones having magical abilities. Muggleborns bring fresh genes or old genes that have been dormant for generations into the magical gene pool.

"On the other hand, Voldemort drastically increased the problem. With him killing off muggleborns, halfbloods and purebloods who opposed him, he destroyed much magical blood. And it was the second time that Europe was victim to that kind of loss. While Voldemort concentrated on Great Britain and Grindelwald on the continent, together they managed to eradicate over forty per cent of the magical population. Voldemort would have destroyed the wizarding world in his delusions of immortality and power."

Sirius highlighted the number of people who died in the first war against Voldemort and some names of families that went extinct thanks to Voldemort were listed.

"Whole bloodlines were lost forever in the war. You told us the Ministry is missing many members. Well, that is our fault. We arrested them when Lucius Malfoy and Barty Crouch jr. managed to revive Voldemort." Sirius admitted.

"What? But how? Why does nobody know this?" He protested.

"To prevent mass hysteria. Your people aren't prepared to deal with this problem, so we solved it before it could become a problem. We have known of the plans to resurrect Voldemort months before the ritual was done. He planned using Agent Potter's blood to strengthen him further instead of using any enemy he had. Well, we equipped Potter with acidic blood from a beast from the Amazon jungle. It weakened Voldemort.

"Twenty of our magical agents portkeyed to the cemetery where the ritual was held and overwhelmed them. We purposely waited until all the Death Eaters were there to strike. Agent Potter duelled Voldemort and managed to fight him to a standstill due to Voldemort's weakened condition and the fact that their wands are brothers. They have feathers from the same phoenix as their core. It led to an effect called priori incantatem, which, after Agent Potter's will was superior to Voldemort's, made Voldemort's wand to repeat all spells in reverse order. Meanwhile our other agents subdued all the Death Eaters.

"When Voldemort had lost and was bound, we sent Agent Potter back with Lucius Malfoy to tell parts of the story which was decided beforehand. All the public knows is that a Death Eater, who managed to bribe his way out of punishment, was caught red handed trying to bring his master back. The only ones who truly know that Voldemort was brought back are marked Death Eaters like Snape and Karkaroff and Professor Dumbledore who was told by Snape. But Dumbledore doesn't know that we took care of the problem. He just isn't suited to be a leader in war. He means well, but he doesn't have the mind set to make hard decisions. He believes that even those who willingly followed Voldemort and killed for fun could have been saved. That is an illusion." Sirius stated.

M took over.

"Voldemort is imprisoned in one of our magic proof cells and won't escape because he is too weak and in constant pain. We keep him alive until we manage to get our hands on the last device he made to cheat death, we know where it is and will get it soon, and then he will die. We can't allow a terrorist of his level to stay alive.

"Now as we told you that we took care of the Voldemort problem already, we need to solve the ideology problem. You're an upcoming member of the Ministry, Mr Weasley. We expect you to rise into the position of department head in the next five years or so. From what our spies at the Ministry told us, your father is probably about to be named undersecretary of the new Minister as he is one of the few honest members there. And that is deciding for Amelia Bones. She wants to bring about change but she needs to be able to rely on her subordinates completely. Your new head of department, Steven Carter, is one of our agents as well. He will make sure you're transferred to a department where you can show your abilities to rise through the ranks in a year, after you have learned from him how you truly work on International Cooperation. Your former head of department was an idiot in that regard.

"What we want you to do is support the new Minister in her job of freeing the Ministry of the corruption of the Bagnold and Fudge administrations. Amelia Bones wants to do the right things, but she can't be everywhere. She needs the right information and you, as somebody who can work through all the paperwork effortlessly, are the right person to give her the information in short summaries. Forget about following your superiors blindly. It will lead you into failure. But use your sharp mind to find the dark spots and bring them to the attention of those who can get rid of them. You have already escaped one real problem as nobody figured out that Barty Crouch was kept prisoner and was forced to write you instructions under the imperius curse. You would have been forced to take the full fall for that." M pointed out to Percy's chagrin, knowing that it was true.

He had got told off by Carter for his behaviour, but that had been all to that. Now he knew the reason if the muggle secret service wanted to recruit him.

"Propagate for competence in those who hold Ministry jobs. You're known for perfection, sometimes overly so, so it won't appear suspect if you call for the same skill in others. It will lead to open positions for those who earn them, regardless of blood status. We took out the worst extremists; the others will sooner or later run afoul Agent Potter, who has already got a reputation of killing political careers of bigots. He will continue being the public face for furthering change by openly supporting good changes instigated by Minister Bones.

"We know that she will only be Minister for a period of at most ten years. Probably less. She took the job out of a sense of duty but she would rather have stayed at the DMLE. If you do your job well enough and help us bringing the necessary change in the government and the general public opinion, we would support you if you wanted to run for the position of Minister in ten or so years. Any earlier and you would be regarded too young." M told the perplexed young man.

"You really think it would be possible to get to the top that fast?" Percy asked disbelieving.

"Percy, how did you become head boy?" Harry asked now.

"I always put my best effort into my studies and kept to the school rules." Percy answered.

"Did you ever think that some things at Hogwarts could have been improved? Just answer honestly."

"Well, yes. As I said not many students really took History serious but I liked being informed about things that happened in the past so I learned outside from Professor Binns' classes. I came upon old curricular of Hogwarts and found that some subjects had been dropped that I felt could have given students today assistance in getting better grades. As I said Potions are rarely known to a high level by students, this would also be due to Professor Snape's teaching style, which most of the students couldn't adept to.

"Also I thought muggleborn students could have had it easier to find into the magical world if we had mandatory introductory courses in traditions, laws, the government, things children born into wizarding families learn while growing up. And while I'm not as big a Quidditch enthusiast as my brothers and my sister, I like the sport and I think it's sad that the basics for getting on a team, learning to fly, is handicapped for children from non-magical families with the hardly functioning school brooms.

"I also think that outside of Ravenclaw house the younger students aren't supported enough. If we had mandatory study periods where older students helped them perhaps an hour or two a week, we could achieve better results for all the years, I'm sure of that."

Harry grinned.

"Well, let me tell you something I did at the end of last year. Professor Dumbledore called me into his office so I could tell him what really happened at the cemetery. Well, I more or less dodged his questions, but I made him realize the problems that were blatantly obvious at school. I told him about Snape playing favourites for Slytherin, bullies being given free reign, muggleborns being insulted without repercussions to the bullies, the substandard teaching methods of Snape, the joke the house point system had become and some more.

"I had taken the liberty to show them the errors of their ways in my personal, irresistible style, but things had to change fundamentally either way. It's just not right that I had to act on problems the teachers should have taken care of."

Percy looked gob smacked. He had been convinced his twin brothers had been the ones behind the pranks that put known bullies into their place. He would never have suspected that it had been Harry who did it. Harry just grinned.

"Professor Dumbledore has taken my complaints to heart. We have three new teachers this year. Two of them are already hired; one will be hired if he can find an agreement with Minister Bones to have a graduate from the auror academy teach DADA for one year after finishing their training. I think Minister Bones will gladly help us if it means the Ministry gets better educated auror applicants. Professor Slughorn, the Potions teacher before Snape, is returning and Professor Dumbledore has set a new book for the basic knowledge in potions on the booklist. I think there will be additional Potions classes this year for all the years.

"He also had the idea that the prefects should tutor the younger students, but I already told him that if he only puts this good idea on the shoulders of six people per house, it won't work. I know this because I'll be the male Gryffindor fifth year prefect this year.

"I know changing our world won't be easy, but we now have the best opportunity ever. From your ideas you have to better Hogwarts I'd suggest you aim for the Department of Magical Education. I also have one idea that could bring you a career boost. Propose to install a Ministry sponsored pre-Hogwarts education. Perhaps for children from the ages of eight to ten, they could learn about both worlds to fit in everywhere, the things you suggested with the introductory course, subjects that don't require a wand or active magic like Runes, Herbology and such. I'm sure you could write a draft and present it."

Percy thought about it. The idea had merit. And with the new Minister having promised to work intensely for the betterment of the magical world in Great Britain, which better way than to give children the best start possible? He could work out the details.

"We would need to find a way to include both muggleborns and children from wizarding families. Get them to mingle early on before any prejudices can really settle in. With the age you proposed it would also mean that they normally had their first accidental magic experiences and we could alleviate the fears of the muggle parents who don't understand what is happening with their child." Percy said.

"I'll think this through and come up with a plan for it. It's too good an idea to not try to start it up. We can easily set up a facility somewhere disguised as a normal school and connect it to the floo network or equip muggleborn students with portkeys. And we need to show the muggle parents what exactly their children learn. That has always bothered me a bit. Most of my muggleborn classmates wanted to show their families what they learned at Hogwarts but couldn't do it because the Underage Magic laws and the Statute of Secrecy prevented them from doing magic during the holidays. And muggles can't get to Hogwarts."

M and Sirius nodded contently. The young man would do his part. And just in case they had already put a spell onto him that prevented him talking about this meeting. Security precautions and all. They would lift it when they were sure that Percy wouldn't blab.

* * *

**So that's this chapter. Hope you liked it. **


	13. A Mission With Massive Consequences

**Hi, here is the next chapter, thanks to all of you who left reviews. To the question of the lemons, they will come up soon, but I first needed Harry to reach a certain age. It wouldn't have worked well with him being twelve or thirteen. This chapter is about the first higher mission in the normal world for Harry and its consequences. Happy reading.**

* * *

**A Mission With Massive Consequences**

This was the last mission before he would return to Hogwarts. They had got the information about a criminal syndicate that operated in several areas of crime. Not limited to money laundering, drug dealing, slavery, prostitution, thievery and murder. It had taken a lot of time to find the leaders of the British cell of the syndicate. For Harry this was also his first bigger mission in the muggle world. His performance in the Voldemort mission had shown his superiors that he was ready for this kind of mission now.

The bigger fish were living in overseas, but if they got this cell, they had at least managed to deal a major blow against the syndicate. Harry heard two short signals in his earpiece. The signal to move in. He slowly crept towards the outlet of the ventilation system. He carefully removed the screws and silently pulled the grid out. He turned and moved into the ventilation chute. He reset the grid so that on first sight nothing seemed different.

He had been chosen for this job as the system entrance was very narrow. He just managed to get through and none of the criminals thought of an agent who was just fifteen years old to skilfully infiltrate their base. He slowly crept through the chutes towards the control centre avoiding any noise. His main job was deactivating the alarms and security system for the other members of the team to get inside. Then he was to secure evidence to get the syndicate members behind bars.

After thirteen minutes he reached the first barrier. He gave two short clicks in his communicator and was answered with a long one. He had to wait for three minutes before the planned ventilator shutdown happened. He knew he had just thirty-five seconds before the standby set activated for the base. He quickly passed the ventilator and continued his way to the mainframe. He arrived after six minutes. He signaled one short and one long click to his team that he was in position.

Through the grid above the mainframe room, he could see that there were only two men observing the screens. Harry placed his mask upon his face and opened a small plastic container with little green pellets in it. They were little bigger than dust particles and nobody would notice them until it was too late. Harry let a small amount of pellets fall through the grid and watched as they fell onto the ground.

It would only take two minutes until the whole room would be filled with sleeping gas. The pellets reacted to temperature changes. The plastic container isolated the pellets from outside temperatures. But in contact with air at normal room temperature they activated. The sleeping gas was odourless and colourless. After activating the pellets disintegrated and would be overlooked if anybody tried to find the reason for falling asleep with the normal dust in the room.

Harry loved the inventions of the MI6 scientists. Finally the two men had fallen asleep and Harry swiftly removed the grid from its frame and artistically let himself slide out of the ventilation chute and slowly let himself down the wall without making noise. It wouldn't do after all to alert any guards outside of the doors. He landed on the floor and walked to the screens. He opened the disk drive and inserted a disk he had been given for the job. It would do two things.

First it would copy all the data the syndicate had on the mainframe and second disable the security system. Harry waited for the all clear signal from the computer. When he got it, he sent three clicks to his teammates. The next part was their job. He lifted himself back into the ventilation system and reattached the grid. He made his way back to the ventilator. This time he waited for the next signal, one short click, which meant the attack team had started their assault. He used a short electrical signal to overload the ventilator and crept through. He finally reached the outlet he had used to get inside, but this time there were two pairs of legs standing in front of the outlet.

"Do you know why the boss wanted us here?" He heard one male say.

"No I don't. I think he is paranoid. Nobody would manage to get through the outlet; it's too small for any adult. And you can't tell me the cops would use a child to get inside. Even then, they would be stopped at one of the ventilators. Nobody can get inside this way." Another male answered.

"True. I hate keeping watch. I'd rather be inside. I have heard rumours a new batch of girls arrived tonight. From Chile I think."

"Ah, don't tempt me. The South American girls are so delicious." His partner answered.

"Do you think we'll get the opportunity to take part in their training?" The other one perversely asked.

"Perhaps. The boss always lets those who achieved good results in their jobs have some part in training new girls. Rocko was lucky last time, he raved about the full breasts and long legs of the girls he taught how to pleasure a man properly."

Harry was disgusted listening to the two men. He needed to get out of the chute but to manage that he had to take the two out. Thankfully he had some pellets left. He opened his container and let them fall through the outlet's bars. Outside it would take a bit longer for the effect of the sleeping gas to take effect. Four minutes later the two began swaying. Then they crashed down on the ground.

Harry crept out of the chute and replaced the screws. Then he looked at the two men he had disabled. They were probably about twenty to twenty five years old. Both seemed to be foreigners even if their conversation sounded like they had lived in England for some time. Harry quickly took two syringes from his belt and injected a powerful drug into their systems. They wouldn't wake up for five hours and by then the MI6 would have taken over the base. Harry placed the syringes back on his belt and went to the edge of the roof. He took out a gun, put a sound suppressor onto it and loaded a hook with an attached wire in it.

He aimed at the chimney of the building next to this one and shot. Silently the hook flew over the alley between the buildings and took hold on the chimney. Harry secured the other part of the wire at this roof and attached a karabiner from his belt on it. He let himself sink down to the wire and placed his legs over the wire. He pulled himself over to the other side with his hands and when he was safely on the other roof, detached the karabiner from the wire.

A command with a remote control loosened the other side of the wire on the roof he had been on before and Harry pulled the wire back in. He put it back into the pocket it had been in and opened the roof door of the building. He found his normal clothes that he had worn over his black mission suit while entering the building. He quickly put them back on, removed the gloves and mask he wore and went back to the elevator. He went down to the ground floor and left the business building through the front door, nobody suspecting anything.

* * *

Seven hours later Harry sat in a meeting room together with seven other agents who were already cleared by the doctors to attend the debriefing. The others, who were not at the hospital wing, were securing the prisoners. This meeting was led by agent 005, better known as Richard Maves in the world. Nobody knew his true name though. As it was held with all the 00 agents. The only ones in the know were M and those who were close to them before they got promoted to 00 status. M was still occupied with reporting to the Prime Minister about the operation. It had got a bit messy.

"Alright. While many members of the mission team are still getting treated, the mission itself was successful. We have only two fatalities on our part, have got two of the high ranking members of the syndicate, which will be interrogated in the coming weeks and arrested ninety-five per cent of the lower and middle ranked members. So the assault squad performed better than expected. In the fighting with the syndicate members the leader of this cell committed suicide when he was cornered and knew he had no way to get out. We'll need some time to interrogate all our prisoners. Sadly past experience shows that members of this syndicate are trained well to withstand normal interrogation techniques. Thankfully our scientists recently created the V-Drug which makes them spill all their secrets."

Harry kept his impassive face but had to mentally chuckle. The V-Drug was veritaserum in a slightly modified form so that it would work on muggles without side effects. The chief Potions master Erik Sledgehorn had developed that Potion.

"On each place you'll find a list with all the identified arrested prisoners. You'll go through the lists to see if you have any information you can add to our database on anybody. We'll turn the lower and middle ranked criminals over to the official authorities after we have all the information they can give us. We also arrested nineteen minors, which we'll have to treat differently. The laws of our country state that we can't interrogate minors using drugs, so the V-Drug is not an option. Probably those minors can give us more information about the drug dealing rings as they are probably only connected to those parts of the syndicate."

All the assembled agents opened the files in front of them and quickly looked over the names that were printed on the papers. Harry had to stifle a groan when he read some familiar names. How in Merlin's name had Dudley managed to get into a criminal syndicate with fifteen? He had thought that he didn't have the stomach and the smarts for it. Well, he knew perfectly how to get information from his cousin. He would add it to his report.

"The second part of the operation was completely successful. We got a full copy of the mainframe of the base before the leader of the cell activated the self-detonation to prevent it. We now know several contacts the British cell had with cells abroad."

Many agents looked appraising at Harry, who slightly smiled. He had just done his job. But it felt good that those experienced agents acknowledged his abilities.

"I want your reports by tomorrow evening. Dismissed and good work everybody." 005 said and everybody stood up and went to leave the room.

"Well done, Harry, you got the security system down alright." Keith Stone said patting his back.

"Thanks, Keith. I wouldn't have been able to do it though without the nice little gadgets I got for the mission. Those sleep pallets are the real deal. And our IT specialists really know their job. The download just took a few minutes." Harry deflected.

"Boys, we need to teach Harry here that it's okay to just accept praise. That was a well done infiltration classical style…" Tyler Rogers told them "…so let's hit the bar and get something to drink. He is old enough to be included in our little celebrations after a massively successful operation. And I know for a fact that Sirius is in Sri Lanka on a mission so he can't stop us."

Cheers erupted from the others and Harry found himself dragged to the so-called party area. It was a tradition in the MI6 that when a mission was finished and had been a success that the participants of the mission came together and got drunk. It helped to lose the adrenaline they had been under and made coping with the job easier. As all agents were on mandatory leave for a week after a major mission it was not a problem.

The deadline for reports was based on this knowledge. They would party for some hours, sleep for about eight hours, cure their hangovers if inexperienced for another three hours at least and then get to writing their reports. With a timeframe of nearly thirty two hours it was well manageable.

* * *

Harry sat at home and drank a mug of hot chocolate contently. He had been at headquarters in the morning and had been introduced to the new head. The new M was a Lady who reminded Harry a lot of Minerva McGonagall; strict and competent with a no-nonsense attitude. She had been a bit surprised about his mission record, but had accepted him easily enough. Harry knew there weren't many agents as young as him and if there were, they were just starting their training. But now he was trying to relax. He simply loved relaxing with some of his favourite hot drink in the evenings.

He was waiting for Sirius, who had taken a shower after coming home later than planned. Harry knew something had happened at headquarters besides the new M meeting all the agents, but he didn't know what it was. Well, Sirius would tell him when he had finished his shower. Ten minutes later Sirius entered the living room and sat down in the armchair opposite of Harry. His face showed a mixture of sadness and happiness.

"Okay, what happened?" Harry asked knowing this was something big.

"I have been given 00-status." Sirius said.

Now Harry understood the mixture of feelings on Sirius' face. He had waited for gaining 00-status for some years but it came with two side-effects. Two assassinations and the death or retirement of the holder of the position he would take over. Mostly it was the death.

"Which one?" Harry asked.

"008. I'll operate as Lionel Morane from now on." He said.

"Congratulations, Sirius. You have earned it. You have been waiting for the spot for years. It would be easier if you could just rise to the rank when you're ready but we both know the job. How did the old Lionel die?" Harry asked sombre, not having heard anything about a retiring 00 agent before.

"A mission in Tibet. He had infiltrated a base of the Russian terrorist Puschnatov and sabotaged his mainframe. Puschnatov planned to play the old animosities inside of Russia against the Americans while selling them weapons. The only thing he didn't have for sale were atomic weapons but anything else in the world he had. Lionel managed to put the information he copied into the indestructible capsule before he tried getting out of there but somewhere in the base were high explosive experimental weapons stored that nobody knew about before the base was blown up in a spectacular fireball.

"The cleaning teams found the capsule together with the remains of his corpse. The positive thing is he took Puschnatov with him. The ass was at the base on a routine check. "

"I see. Well, that means I'll have to call you Lionel at the base from now on." Harry said.

"Yeah, it will take some getting used to. But taking over the identity of the first batch of 00 agents has proven best over the decades. This way our opponents don't know anything about the true identities of the top agents. And for some it looks like we never die."

Harry nodded and waved his wand to summon Sirius another mug of hot chocolate from the kitchen.

* * *

Vernon and Petunia Dursley were having a normal evening. Their son Dudley was sleeping over with one of his friends, their freak of a nephew hadn't been back since shortly after his first year, when he just vanished one night. The only one to ever ask about him was the old Arabella Figg, but for some reason they could never really remember what they told her. Something to get her to leave. Like the freak was staying with friends. The farther away he was the better in their opinion. They pretended nothing was wrong and none of the neighbours ever asked, so why should they concern themselves with him? When they went to the living room to watch TV the phone rang.

"I'll get it, Pet." Vernon said.

He went to get the phone.

"Vernon Dursley speaking." He said after taking up the receiver. "What? That must be a mistake." He said desperately. "Yes, of course, we'll come. London you said? Of course, Officer. Goodbye."

"Who was it, Vernon?" Petunia asked.

"Scotland Yard. They arrested Dudley and he is at the moment in a cell at their London headquarters waiting to be interrogated. As he is a minor, we as his parents have to be present." Vernon said gravely.

"But that has to be a mistake, Vernon. Dudley would never become a criminal. They must have got the wrong boy." Petunia protested.

"The Officer I spoke with said, they had proof of his involvement with a criminal syndicate. We'll be told the details once we get to London." Vernon told her.

* * *

They arrived at Scotland Yard one and a half hours later. When they told the policeman at the entrance office why they were there, they were led towards a room that was next to the interrogation room.

"Mr and Mrs Dursley?" A tall man with a black beard asked.

"Yes. We were called here because the officer at the phone said our son Dudley was arrested. That has to be a mistake; he would never do something criminal." Petunia said.

"I'm Officer Hamilton. I'm sorry, but there is no doubt about his involvement with the cell of the syndicate that was taken out earlier today by the British Secret Service. He was caught in the premises and resisted arrest. Additionally we have computer files about all the members of the syndicate and observation reports about operations the syndicate did. Your son has been involved in drug dealing at Smeltings School, theft, robbery and violent blackmail. The syndicate has trained him up to become one of their members since his second year at school. His profile in their data classifies him as a promising upcoming member.

"Just for your information. The syndicate we are speaking about is an internationally organized criminal organization that is involved in any criminal activity you can imagine. Robbery, drug dealing, computer crimes, money laundering, kidnapping, murder, blackmail. You name it, they do it. As your son is still a minor he will be interrogated with you being able to watch the interrogation. A social worker will be in the room with the interrogator and your son. Once the interrogation is finished, depending on the results and what information we'll get from other police stations, you'll probably be able to take your son home with you.

"If he is allowed to go with you he will be getting strict guidelines he will have to follow. He will be tried under juvenile law. You're not allowed to leave the country with him or will have to face charges yourself. We are still collecting all the data so the earliest time he will be allowed to leave will be in three days. You can stay here for that time or get him some clothes to change and some toiletries. Everything you bring him will be searched to prevent him getting anything that could be used as a weapon or is classified as a drug." Officer Hamilton informed them.

Petunia and Vernon were completely shocked. They didn't want to believe that their precious Dudley would have been involved in something like that. Officer Hamilton had to roll his eyes. He had read the information the Secret Service had given them on the teens that had been transferred to them for interrogation. Those three that had been arrested, Dudley Dursley, Piers Polkiss and Malcolm White were known delinquents, but their parents didn't want to see it. He hated those kinds of cases. These two seemed to be in total denial that their son could have done anything wrong. From what he had seen of the boy so far he didn't doubt he was capable of a lot of wrongdoings.

"In this room, you'll be able to see and hear what is spoken in the interrogation room, but they can't hear us. Please remember that." He told them and god nods.

* * *

Agent Stephanie Zeon was a middle class agent for the MI6. She was the one tasked with the cooperation with Scotland Yard in the dealings with the underage members of the organization. She was an athletic woman with short blond hair, dark blue glasses and she was wearing a classical black trouser suit. Her colleague Marcus Bennett from Scotland Yard was a tanned brunette with a slightly portly built. They would do the interrogation of all the teens. They were observed by Melanie Hiller, the social worker responsible for Surrey where the three teens lived.

The first one they would interrogate was one Dudley Dursley. They had observed the boy and his gang for years now since they had got the information that they were involved in drug dealing at their school. They had let them be as they couldn't find any solid evidence that they were involved in criminal activities. The leaders of the drug dealers at Smeltings had established a well-working system to not be caught. And catching the small fry would have tipped off the higher ups too early. They had needed two years to get the massive strike they had dealt the organization yesterday ready.

While Scotland Yard had informed the parents of the boys that the raid had been earlier today, it had been the day before. With a few sleeping drugs nobody would ever be able to tell the correct date. After all, they had needed to get their information ready to present it to the police. Especially Agent Potter had a lot of information on the three teens they would interrogate now. One was even his cousin. How two boys that had grown up in the same house could have developed so differently would always astonish her.

She looked at her partner and got a nod. Marcus was ready. They entered the bare room where Dudley Dursley sat with handcuffs on his wrists. The boy was simply fat. There was no other term to describe him. She could see a bit of muscle but not much. How could any responsible parent let the boy get that fat? He looked at them with contempt in his eyes.

"Hello, Mr Dursley. I'm Officer Zeon, this is Officer Bennett and this is the social worker Mrs Hiller. Do you know why you're here?" She asked.

"No." He said.

"Oh, really? So you deny that you have been arrested in a raid against the British headquarters of an international criminal organization?" She asked.

"Yes, I have done nothing wrong, so just let me go." Dudley demanded.

"That won't happen. We have proof that you were involved in several crimes at Smeltings School. You're attending Smeltings, that's correct, right?" Bennett asked.

"Yes, I do. But I didn't do anything criminal." Dudley answered.

The two interrogators could see he had been trained how to answer during interrogation, at least the basics. They could see from his body language that he was lying.

"Then you surely can explain these photos." Bennett said and pushed four pictures over to Dudley.

They showed him threatening another student with his fists, him taking a new delivery of drugs, him being lookout for two older students in a mall and him getting paid for his work. Dudley paled. He didn't think the police would have got that kind of pictures.

"You see, lying is useless. If you cooperate your punishment will be less harsh. What we want to know are the names of the students you sold drugs to. We want the names of all the ones that are also working for the drug dealers at Smeltings. Confess your crimes completely and you'll be given a less severe punishment." Bennett said.

Dudley seemed still stubborn.

"You have to realize that at the moment we have enough material to get you imprisoned for at least five years in a juvenile facility. If you were an adult you would be facing fifteen years in prison. The organization you got involved with is not shying back from violence and murder. Do you want to become a murderer? If you continue your current ways, you'll end there." Zeon said.

Dudley was sweating now. Would they really put him in prison for five years? He didn't want to go to prison. He wouldn't have his comforts there and the food was horrible. But he also remembered what Daniel had told them what would happen if they talked. The prospect of being at the receiving end of those brutes he had seen wasn't a good one.

"Mr Dursley, we got all the members of the organization and know the names of the ones that weren't at the hideout. We have proof to get them imprisoned. So you don't have to fear their retaliation. If you talk you can probably prevent to have to go to prison. But you'll have to fully cooperate." Bennett repeated.

Dudley weighed the arguments he had heard against his fears. He then slumped down and started talking. He wouldn't go to prison.

* * *

Vernon and Petunia were protesting in the neighbour room that those accusations were not founded, but they were soon silenced by Officer Hamilton. When Dudley broke and started talking they wanted to still deny it, but with the longer the confession took, the more horrified they became. Never would they have imagined in what kind of company their son had got. What would the neighbours say? After one and a half hours Dudley finally stopped talking. He had confessed many crimes. He even included his treatment of his cousin in his childhood. Once he started talking he couldn't stop.

When he talked how he had beaten up his cousin and his parents never punished him, Hamilton's look was getting darker and darker. He suspected child abuse against the cousin Dudley Dursley was talking about. He would make sure that charges against the parents were investigated.

When he had told everything he knew about, Dudley was led out of the room again. The two elder Dursleys were ashen faced.

"You know, from what your son told my colleagues in there, you could have prevented this. That boy obviously never learned to distinguish right from wrong. You never punished his horrible behaviour towards his cousin who was the same age as him. Prepare for being investigated in the matter of how you treated your nephew. This sounds extremely like child abuse to me and if there is one thing I hate it's people who mistreat a child that can't defend itself." Hamilton said and left the Dursleys to their thoughts. He had to start another investigation.

* * *

**Okay, how did you like it? Till next time.**


	14. How to be a Star

**Hi here is chapter 14. Thanks to everybody who left a review for the previous chapters. Hope you like the new one.**

* * *

**How to be a Star**

Hogwarts started nice this year. With the Death Eater parents taken out of the equation, many of their children were faced with dealing with their classmates without the financial and political backing they had had before. Therefore they were just observing things for now. Harry noticed that Draco Malfoy was shooting him hateful glares, but he couldn't care less. He had a mission to fulfil at school, now that he had a position of authority. He had proven to be the best wizard of his generation last year by winning the Triwizard Tournament. Now he was the fifth year Gryffindor Prefect and could lead the younger years by his example.

And they were bound to look up to him. This was important for the future of the wizarding world. They needed to get the prejudices about muggleborns out of the heads of the elite and which better way to do so than showing the children from the beginning that bullying wasn't tolerated and that they all had the same chances to shine in the future?

Harry interestedly watched the sorting. He thought the Sorting Hat might have an inkling of what had happened last year. The song was hinting on him having done something to the problem of darkness in their world. Harry did his yearly ritual of committing the names and faces of the first years and where they were sorted to memory. He would set up files for them tonight when his dorm-mates were asleep.

It seemed as if Professor Dumbledore really wanted to make sure Hogwarts returned to the top spot as an institute of learning and had chosen the prefects for all houses wisely. For Hufflepuff Hannah Abbot and Justin Finch-Fletchley had got the badges. Both were nice and would show the younger students the values of Hufflepuff. Well, he didn't really fear for the members of Hufflepuff being intolerant. They had been cured of that habit in his second year and been shown what could happen in his third.

For Ravenclaw Padma Patil and Terry Boot were the prefects. Harry would make sure they looked out for younger students being bullied. Having a friendly relationship with Padma he could easily ask her that favour. He had lost count how often he had shown up bullies from Ravenclaw who had hidden Luna Lovegood's things.

Then Slytherin was a nice surprise. Blaise Zabini and Tracey Davis had been named prefects. Harry could imagine how mad Malfoy was that he didn't get the badge. But with his continued behaviour nobody could rectify making him a prefect and with Snape gone there was no one to speak for him.

His female counterpart in Gryffindor was of course Hermione, who he would keep from sticking to the rules too much. Certain things had to be handled flexibly and Hermione tended to be too harsh.

* * *

Finally Dumbledore held his speech after the food disappeared.

"Welcome to Hogwarts for another year. This year we have some changes to our staff and the curriculum. I want to introduce you to Professor Howard Derwent who will be teaching Defence against the Dark Arts for this year. Next is Professor Regina Finn, who will be teaching History of Magic."

He was interrupted by loud cheers. Everybody was glad to be rid of Binns' boring lessons. It took Dumbledore a shot from his wand to create a bang to get them to quiet down again.

"Well, I'm glad you like the changes, but I wasn't finished. Last but not least I welcome back an old colleague of mine, Professor Horace Slughorn who will be taking over the position of head of house for Slytherin and be the Potions teacher."

The happy cheers for this announcement, while centred on the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, were non-the-less louder than the ones for being rid of Binns.

It took three bangs to get them to listen to the rest of the speech.

"Quidditch try-outs are held in two weeks, interested players are to contact their team captains. In cooperation with the Departments of Magical Games and Sports and of Magical Education there is a new rule for the set-up of the Quidditch teams to be implied. All captains are required to hold full try-outs at the beginning of each year. The try-outs will be monitored by Madam Hooch and the head of house of the team. This is to ensure that the best players of each house will be playing for the team. The captains are also asked to build a reserve team in case players are too injured to play and to give talented players the opportunity to get experience so they can get on the team next year. I know for certain that many of the current players will graduate after this year, so training their replacements would be wise."

Many people nodded. The new rule made sense and if the current players were skilled enough they didn't have to fear for their positions.

"How will I be able to get all of this done?" Angelina Johnson, the Gryffindor Captain asked her fellow chaser Alicia Spinnet.

"Don't worry; you'll have the whole team behind you. We are lucky that we have all of our previous team here, so we have experienced players for all positions except keeper. And we all know how good we are. The probabilities of others getting starting positions are not as big as they are in other houses. And each of us can help train a reserve player for the positions." Alicia calmed her down.

Angelina nodded. She was a new captain and being confronted with a full tryout rule when she had thought she could just build up on a well-working team was overwhelming.

On other tables many were also talking about the new rule. Slytherin house seemed to be a bit miffed about the new interference. Harry could see why, they had mostly played dirty and used muscle over skill. This wouldn't work with the teachers overseeing the try-outs.

The last announcements from Dumbledore were just the usual. The forest was forbidden, the list of banned items, no magic in the corridors. Then it was time to work for Harry and Hermione.

"All Gryffindor first-years come over here please." Harry called out.

He and Hermione waited until all the new Gryffindors had assembled around them.

"All right, my name is Harry Potter and my charming friend here is Hermione Granger. We are the Gryffindor fifth year prefects and are here to be contacts for you throughout the year, act as tour guides today and tomorrow for all those who are interested in learning more about the layout of the castle and will help you with getting used to be Gryffindors. This year mandatory study sessions have been implemented for all houses. Older students from Gryffindor will be overseeing your studies in the different subjects. I want you to remember, that they are doing this in their free time, so treat them nicely.

"Now if you would follow us, we'll show you the first part of the Hogwarts tour, the way to the Gryffindor common room." Harry said, getting a grin from Hermione.

Sometimes Harry just wanted to show off. Well, better him than her. The first years looked at him in awe. Everybody knew about his victory in the Triwizard Tournament last year.

"The most important thing to know is which landmarks to look out for. The castle likes to keep us students on our toes and the stairs change directions every so often. The best thing is if you look for things that don't move positions. So don't use the inhabitants of the portraits, because they like to visit each other, understandable in my opinion, who would want to be stuck in one place all the time?"

A lot of the first years laughed at that while certain portraits on their route were just nodding in agreement.

"So the Gryffindor common room is in one of the towers, really great view over the grounds you'll love it." Harry commented his tour.

Hermione just rolled her eyes at her friend.

"All the common rooms are protected by a password. So make sure that only you know our password. There is nothing wrong with making friends in the other houses, but meetings have to be held in places other than the house common rooms. Some kind of old school rule the founders came up with." He downplayed the rule.

"Harry!" Hermione admonished his behaviour Harry smile at her disarmingly. The first years giggled again.

"As you have probably noticed, we have a rather long way to our common room, so plan accordingly to be in time for breakfast, most important meal of the day, and to get to your classes. For the first week Hermione and I'll show you the way to your classrooms, so be at the Great Hall every morning fifteen minutes before classes start as Hermione and I also need to get to our classes after we hand you over to your Professors. And don't worry about them biting, they don't." He joked.

He got more giggles for that. Finally they reached the portrait of the fat lady.

"Password?" She asked.

"Mimbulus Mimbletonia." Hermione said.

Some of the first years cringed at the complicated password.

The led them inside and enjoyed the admiring looks the first years had for the common room.

"Alright, the dorms for the boys are up the stairs on the left, the girls up the stairs on the right. A warning to all boys, you can't get up the stairs to the girls' dorms, believe me, the surprise you'll get is not so nice." Harry wisely stated.

"Harry, how would you know what happens if you go up there as a boy?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Busted!" A boy with blond hair whispered to his friend, but everybody heard it and started giggling again.

"Aw, don't you think I'd have tried to visit my favourite bushy haired bookworm in her dorm? After all, you came up to our dorm more than once." Harry countered wiggling his eyebrows.

Now it was Hermione's turn to blush. He had turned her own argument against her. And of course the first years found it really funny.

"Okay, this ends our short tour from the Great Hall to Gryffindor tower. Gryffindor Prefect Travels thanks you for your attention and wishes you a good night. For all those that want to be guided back to the Great Hall for breakfast tomorrow morning, be here at a quarter to eight!" Harry announced and gave an exaggerated bow, which got him applause from the first years.

Harry and Hermione then went to the other Gryffindors that sat in the armchairs by the fire.

"Nice speech Harry. Definitely more inspiring than those of our dear brother Percy." Fred praised.

"Thanks Fred. I thought they needed a little help to start right. And I still remember how often we managed to get lost in our first week here." Harry replied.

"You could have taken the job a bit more serious." Hermione admonished him.

"And look like I was a rule-stickler? No thank you. I like it better if they think I'm approachable and not fear I'll rat them out if they did something stupid, which will happen, and don't know what to do. Better help them before something really bad happens."

"Well said, Harry. I think we even might think of tolerating your ascension to prefect." George proclaimed.

"Aw, I'm touched, George. Just don't do your usual thing in front of me. I'd have to give out punishments then and I don't really want to do that." Harry replied.

Hermione looked sour. She still didn't think ignoring the rules was right.

"Relax a bit, Hermione. I won't tolerate if anybody tries to bully others, if they endanger anybody or bring utter chaos. I know my duties as a prefect. But I really think that guiding the younger students by example and a bit of help is more important than telling first-years off for getting into a little bit of trouble. And Fred and George know how far they can go with their pranks. And if the teachers can't figure out things then I'm not duty bound to tell them."

Hermione pouted but she also knew he was right.

* * *

It was Saturday. The third Saturday in September and the try-outs for the Gryffindor Quidditch team were to start in half an hour. Angelina had been stressed out about the job as team captain, especially how best to organize try-outs. The interesting thing was nearly all the first years were sitting in the stands, wanting to watch their favourite prefect during the tryout. They had been told by their older house mates how good a flyer and seeker Harry Potter was and now they wanted to see it with their own eyes. All members from other houses were banned from the pitch, the same rule held true for the try-outs of the other houses of course.

The example of the first-years had soon been followed by those second and third years that didn't want to try out. All of them looked up to Harry as he was normally helping them with their defence tutoring.

After the first week the tutoring students for the different subjects had been chosen. All of them were at least fifth years. The tutor for Herbology was Neville Longbottom, all of the first and second years, which were the years that had mandatory study sessions in all subjects, for those in third and fourth years it was voluntary, agreed that the quiet boy was a great teacher in the subject. Then for Potions Fred and George Weasley, to the utmost surprise of Professor McGonagall, had taken up tutoring. The twins were really knowledgeable in the art. In Astronomy Katie Bell was the main tutor.

Charms was covered by Dean Thomas, History of Magic by Hermione Granger, the only person capable of staying awake in the classes of former Professor Binns and therefore the only person with any remarkable knowledge in the subject and Transfiguration by James Malloy, a sixth year. For the electives from third year on there were some contacts for the students if they were needed. Hermione had also taken up the position for Arithmancy, she had originally planned to only tutor Arithmancy, but with the Binns problem, she had been coerced to take over History tutoring too, Ron Weasley was the unofficial contact for Divination, he had an unbeatable technique to finish high marking essays for Trelawney after all, even if he would be the first one to tell the younger students that Divination was utter rubbish, which had led to Parvati Patil becoming the official contact for those who believed in the subject.

Care of Magical Creatures was covered by Joe Runt the seventh year male prefect, Ancient Runes by Lee Jordan and Muggle Studies by Cassidy Volt a muggleborn sixth year witch. They all knew similar arrangements had been made in the other houses.

Now the spectators were greeted with the view of the previous Gryffindor Quidditch team, which had won the Quidditch Cup two years prior. Last year there hadn't been one because of the Triwizard Tournament. All the younger years cheered when they saw Harry coming out of the locker room. He just smiled and waved at them.

"You definitely are popular with the younger years, Harry." Angelina commented.

"What can I say, it's my natural charm." He said, pushing his hand through his hair, making it look more untamed than before.

Most of the people around him laughed. Angelina then turned to address the assembled students for the tryout. Everybody had been given a number for Angelina to be able to keep them all under control.

"Alright, thank you all for coming; you know what we are going to do. I need to test all applicants for all of the positions. First I want you to separate in groups of six and fly two rounds around the pitch" she ordered. As we have not that much time to waste, you'll take off in intervals of fifteen seconds. First group start on my whistle, second be ready to go up after them. If one group has finished their laps, land and wait for further instructions."

She blew her whistle and the first group took off. The six flyers were only average but Angelina intended to find those flyers that had potential. Again and again she blew her whistle until all applicants had flown two rounds. Angelina had called out numbers to Hermione who had been called in to help with the paperwork for the try-outs. Angelina was sure she would lose track of all the flyers otherwise. The last group to take off, after all the others had landed again, was the old Quidditch team, which showed their impressive coordination with each other.

Harry, Fred and George had decided to take one side for formation flying and Angelina, Katie and Alicia the other. The spectators were entranced by the old team's performance.

Harry and the twins were performing spectacular stunts in the air like switching their brooms in mid-flight, diving chases, Harry showed the surfing move he had used in his first ever Quidditch match with the twins covering for him beneath him.

Angelina, Alicia and Katie showed flawless position play. Chasers were required to change positions in the game permanently and the girls had been playing for years together, they knew how to coordinate their manoeuvres. Oliver would be so proud of the team he had trained.

When they landed with a spectacular synchronic dive of all six that they abruptly stopped a foot of the ground, everybody who was there broke in cheers and applause.

Madam Hooch and Professor McGonagall were shaking their heads and smiling. They should have known that the team would pull such a stunt to show their abilities. They wanted to make clear that it would take a fantastic talent to make it into the starting formation as the six current players wouldn't give up their places on the team easily. The try-outs this year would concentrate on the keeper spot and the reserve team.

After a long day of testing and the following discussion of the chosen players with Professors McGonagall and Hooch Angelina pinned the new set-up of the team to the board in the common room. Immediately the Gryffindors went to look who was on the team.

Starting team:

Chaser: Angelina Johnson, 7th year – Captain  
Chaser: Katie Bell, 6th year  
Chaser: Alicia Spinnet, 7th year  
Beater: Fred Weasley, 7th year  
Beater: George Weasley, 7th year  
Keeper: Ron Weasley, 5th year  
Seeker: Harry Potter, 5th year

Reserve team:

Chaser: Ginny Weasley, 4th year  
Chaser: Demelza Robins, 3rd year  
Chaser: Eric Stevens, 2nd year  
Beater: Richie Coote, 3rd year  
Beater: Jimmy Peakes, 2nd year  
Keeper: James Harper, 4th year  
Seeker: Dennis Creevey, 2nd year

All the members of the teams were happy to have been chosen. If Angelina was fair, the only reason that Ginny wasn't part of the starting team was that Alicia, Katie and her had so much practice together, that it would take time to include a new chaser in the dynamics. Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch had agreed with all of her choices. The only position that needed work was the keeper as they had to train up Ron, who was nowhere near as good as Oliver Wood had been, but he had potential. It seemed their house lacked a bit of talent for that position. James Harper also needed a lot of training but he was a better reserve player than Cormac McLaggen, who, while a good player, was just an arrogant ass and both the teachers had agreed with her reasoning that she didn't want somebody like that on her team.

* * *

Harry was in the common room reading up on the topic for the Transfiguration essay he had to hand in next Monday. He had the goal to ace his OWLs this year, so he needed to give the impression over the year that he worked hard to achieve his marks. His knowledge in the subjects at school exceeded the syllabus by far and he was also taking all the OWLs available except Divination. He had convinced Professor McGonagall to just let him take the exams in Muggle Studies without attending the classes as he was muggle raised. She had agreed with him that this would be the best way to get his studies done without stressing him out too much over the year.

Harry had seen what kind of stress the time turner Hermione had had in their third year, had done to her health. So officially Harry took Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures and sat the end of year exams in Muggle Studies. It had confused many of the students in the class but when he had explained it at the end of third year, even Hermione had agreed that his approach was better than hers. But she had decided to drop the subject completely. It was too much stress for her as she knew she would never be able to just take a test without putting all her work into the preparation.

Harry looked up from his book when three first years stood next to his armchair, obviously not knowing how to ask him a question.

"Okay, just ask what you want to know, I promise I won't bite." He said grinning.

"Well, it's just we have heard so much about wizard duels and we wondered why nobody really teaches how to do it in class." A blond girl asked.

"Well, a good question, Sarah…" Harry said, surprising the girl that he knew her name "…the reason is that normally duelling is part of the things you learn in DADA from third year on. I personally think it's a bit late, you should start as early as possible but the Board of Governors thinks otherwise. We have the problem here at school that we couldn't keep any teacher for DADA more than a year. And from the four we have had so far while I have been a student, only one was really competent. That one was Remus Lupin in my third year. The next best teacher was the fake Alastor Moody last year.

"While he was a Death Eater in disguise who thought he could bring his master back and failed, he had to impersonate the real Moody believably to fool everybody, so we learned a lot from him. Then came Quirinius Quirrell in my first year, who stuttered so badly that nobody really understood him. The worst teacher we ever had was Gilderoy Lockhart, a total fraud. Don't believe anything he wrote in his books, he didn't do anything he said he has done. It were the actions of others which he obliviated and took credit for. He only tried to advertise his books all year.

"So with four teachers who all had different approaches in their teaching we didn't get that much coherent knowledge in the subject. This year we have a graduate of the auror academy who knows his job. If you really want to learn duelling to protect yourselves, the best course of action would probably be to ask Professor Derwent if he would sponsor a duelling club."

"Do you think he would agree to do so?" A black haired boy asked.

"I think so, Gregory." Harry answered.

The three first years thanked him and left the common room to go looking for Professor Derwent.

* * *

Ginny sat at the Gryffindor table reading a letter from her brother Percy. She was so entranced by the content that she didn't notice Harry before his head was next to hers.

"Harry!" She said startled. "Don't spook my like that." She admonished him.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Interesting read?" He asked grinning.

"Prat. Yes, it's interesting. Percy wrote and told me he was going to be transferred from the Department of International Magical Cooperation to the Department of Magical Education. His boss Mr Carter who has succeeded Mr Crouch told him he wanted to restructure the whole department and have it deal with real international cooperation and not the nonsense Crouch was doing."

"Interesting. When will Percy be transferred?"

"From what Percy wrote in January. He will help Carter to clean up the department and then he will be working under Madam Marchbanks who normally is one of the examiners of the OWLs and NEWTs. He is looking forward to work in that department as he has some good ideas to further magical education. I just hope he does a better job than in his first position. He was unbearable while working under Crouch." Ginny made a face.

"I'm sure he has learned a bit."

Harry was glad to have found out that their little operation to bring the wizarding world forward was going well. Harry knew from his training sessions with Sirius that the new Minister was doing a good job so far to detect corruption and get rid of it. The departments were examined one by one so nobody was able to hide their dirty business anymore. Especially as the MI6 had given Percy some very compromising evidence against the corrupt workers they knew off. And as he had promised, Percy, in his best rule abiding fashion had delivered them to Minister Bones personally. Needless to say many people were now awaiting trial for corruption, including ex-Minister Fudge and the already politically dead Dolores Umbridge.

With Percy now getting in position to exterminate the bigotry in the children their overall goal was on the way. Having Arthur Weasley as undersecretary was also helping a lot.

* * *

The whole school year was looking bright for Harry. Well except for the fact that Dumbledore looked like he was thinking hard about Harry's appearance. The headmaster was suspecting that there was more to Harry Potter than he had originally thought. He would have to look into it. So for the first time in fourteen years he decided to visit Privet Drive to see how Vernon and Petunia Dursley thought about their nephew. He apparated outside of Privet Drive in a little forested area of the local park and transfigured his robes into muggle clothes.

His first action was to inspect the wards he had placed around the house. To his utter shock they were non-existent. He disillusioned himself and went to the house to do a deeper check for magical residue. The only thing he found was a charm that would make the inhabitants answer questions for Harry deflecting like he was out with friends or something like that. He now deeply frowned. What the hell was going on here? He hadn't got any negative reports from Arabella all the time since Harry started Hogwarts. He had just assumed that the Dursleys had grudgingly accepted Harry's magic.

But from the reply he got from his check on the wards they had been down for years. How could this be possible? He had to speak with Harry. Something was really wrong here.

* * *

Harry was thinking hard what the headmaster could want to talk about? He had been given a note by one of the second years that said he was to come to the headmaster's office after dinner. He was now standing outside the gargoyle and gave it the password. The statue went aside and the stairs began moving upwards. When he had reached the door he knocked and was asked inside.

"Hello, Harry, thank you for coming here tonight. Would you like a lemon drop?" He asked.

"No, thank you, headmaster." Harry declined politely.

"Well, I'm sure you're curious why I asked you here today." Dumbledore said.

"That is correct." Harry replied.

"Well, I was inspecting certain wards today to make sure they were still working properly after all the years since I placed them but to my grave surprise they had fallen years ago. The most interesting part of that phenomenon is that I didn't get any warning about them falling, which should have happened immediately after they fell. It was a safety precaution I implemented while setting them up."

"That is very interesting, headmaster, but I still don't really understand why this concerns me." Harry said. He knew exactly what had happened but he didn't want to make it easy for the headmaster.

"Well, then let me tell the location of the protected property. It was number 4 Privet Drive in Surrey, your home." He said.

"That place has never been my home, Professor." Harry stated icily. "A home is a place where you're loved and welcome. That place never was either for me. I wasn't even safe there from the abuse of my so-called family. The proper term is relatives as I sadly can't choose my blood relations but my friends here at Hogwarts are more of a family to me than the Dursleys ever were."

Dumbledore was shocked by that cold statement. Did he really make such a big mistake?

"I can see you don't believe me. Well, let me tell you some facts. First I know you placed me there with the intention to protect me from Death Eaters after the fall of Voldemort. Completely bypassing any official channels. While I can understand this logically, the Ministry was infiltrated by them after all; emotionally your decision condemned me to ten years in hell. Petunia and Vernon Dursley hated me and taught their son to do so as well, just because I'm magical."

Harry intently watched Dumbledore's reaction.

"They never showed me an ounce of love or even the littlest affection. They showed me the opposite; they made very clear that I was not wanted. I was called boy or freak all my life there. I found out my name when I was five and went to primary school. They never bothered telling me before. Why would they? I was lower than dirt in their eyes. Abnormal, not like them, special. They just used me to get chores around the house done, spread lies about me in the neighbourhood and let Dudley get away with anything he wanted. Hunting and beating me up included."

Now Dumbledore's face was clearly in pain.

"Didn't your nice little plant tell you what I went through? Well, Mrs Figg never really was that nice to me, even when I was at her house when the Dursleys were out. Oh and in case you wondered. I found out about her knowing about the magical world after my first year here at school. I identified one of her cats as a half-kneazle. I guess she is a squib you asked to look after me. Well, she didn't do a good job, otherwise she would have convinced you to get me out of there sooner."

"I couldn't, Harry. I'm sorry for what you experienced, I really am, but the blood wards were the only thing I could think of that would be able to protect you from Voldemort once he returned and I knew he would, he didn't really die in 1981 as you know." Dumbledore explained gravely.

"Well, you failed your job of properly protecting me. The only thing the Dursleys didn't do was beating me themselves. That was the job of Dudley and his gang. After all, children couldn't be held accountable for their actions by the law. They knew what Dudley did, but they didn't want to see it. Their precious son could do no wrong and if anybody complained about his deeds, they blamed them on me and I got punished. I went without food and water more often than I can remember. I was locked in the cupboard under the stairs, which was also my bedroom for ten years until I got my letter for Hogwarts. And they did their best that I didn't get to read it as you know."

Dumbledore sighed defeated. There was nothing he could say about this. He didn't think people could be that horrible to a child and a relative at that.

"So do you know why the wards have fallen but I wasn't informed?" He asked.

"Yes, but I won't tell you." Harry answered.

"But why? I only tried to protect you."

"As I told you two years ago, I don't trust you, headmaster. I respect your authority in regards to my education here at Hogwarts but beyond that you have no say in my life. You aren't my guardian. And your position as head of the Wizengamot also doesn't give you that power."

"There you're mistaken, I'm your magical guardian and Petunia Dursley is your muggle guardian." Dumbledore countered.

"Neither is true, headmaster." Harry calmly said.

"Oh and why do you think so?"

"Because Sirius Black is the one who has both positions." He answered.

"He can't, he was convicted to Azkaban. No convicted criminal can have custody over a child." Dumbledore denied that claim.

Harry interrupted him.

"No, he wasn't. To be a convicted criminal you have to be given a fair trial, be allowed to present your defence and only then the Wizengamot could have convicted him. That is the Queen's law. And even the magicals have to follow her Majesty's law, even if the former two Ministers didn't think so. None of the former had been done in Sirius' case. As I already told you he is innocent of all charges. But obviously you didn't really care about that or you would have made sure that justice was served.

"Every person accused of crimes can only be held in prison for a period of sixty days. If the Wizengamot fails to provide the accused with a trial during that period the accused is automatically cleared of all charges, that is a law that was instated during the time of the founders. As you know, Sirius was thrown into Azkaban by Crouch and then had been forgotten, his name was slandered in the press and everything without proof.

"Your inactions and neglect of duty as head of the Wizengamot cost me my childhood, Professor. Why would I trust the person responsible for leaving me in the muggle world, not knowing why strange things happened around me and getting punished for the same things? The least you could have done is checking on me in person every year. You could have explained to me why I had to live there when I was able to understand it. I was thrown into cold water when I arrived at Hogwarts. Everybody knew more about me and my family than I did. Until Hagrid told me my parents' names I didn't even know them. So I won't give you the information you want. You denied me my rights all my life growing up. And you don't have any right to ask me to tell you."

Dumbledore was shocked. Never had a student put him into place like that. The sad thing was, Harry was right. He had horribly failed the boy. But he needed him to see reason, Voldemort was back, the darkened dark mark of Severus didn't allow any other conclusions.

"Harry, while I understand your hesitation to trust me, you need to be protected. Voldemort is back, the Dark Mark wouldn't have come back if he hadn't returned to a body." He tried to reason with Harry.

Harry knew the headmaster wouldn't give up on this. But it was the only thing he could prove. And as Harry was an accomplished occlumens, he wasn't able to get the information from Harry's mind.

"Voldemort is no danger to me, just leave it at that, I know what I'm talking about. You won't get any more information."

Dumbledore tried Legilimency but hit a wall in Harry's head.

"I'll only warn you once, headmaster. Try to use Legilimency on me and you'll regret it." He said icily.

"We have nothing to discuss anymore, good day, headmaster." Harry said and left the office.

* * *

**Ok, that's it for this chapter. Till next time.**


	15. The Wizard and The Slayer

**Hi, have fun with the new update, I'm too tired right now to write much.**

* * *

**The Wizard and The Slayer**

Harry hit and kicked the dummies the room of requirement had provided for him. He had asked for a training simulation in weapon less combat to get the frustration at Dumbledore out of his system. The man had the gall to try and legilimens him. He should know better than to use mind arts on a minor. Thankfully he had learned Occlumency very early into his training to keep his profession as a secret agent secret. The room sent wave after wave of midlevel fighters at him. They were the equivalent of adults who had basic training in martial arts. Harry himself had the black belt equivalent in four arts and was only getting stronger the older he got. His body was finally developing the way he had waited for it to do.

When he had defeated the last opponent, he had a déjà vu having a towel thrown at him. He turned around, drying his face of the sweat while doing so.

"This seems to be a habit of yours to beat the shit out of dummies or punching bags whenever Albus enrages you." He heard a familiar voice saying.

He looked at the face of his visitor and was met with the smiling face of Remus Lupin.

"Professor Lupin?" He asked surprised.

"Just Remus, or if you need to be formal Agent Lupin, Harry. I'm one of the werewolves that have been hired after your turning over the anti-werewolf legislation." His former teacher explained.

"When was the first time I managed to produce a corporeal patronus?" Harry asked.

"When you were twelve, to be specific 18 August 1992, after you returned from your first year at school and accepted to join the MI6. It was one of the first defence spells Sirius taught you, just after boggarts. Good that you're taking security serious."

"I have to in my position. I can't be uncovered. You really joined? That's great. I wasn't informed you had joined the department. I presume that you being here means you have been told to either give me new orders, important information or train with me?" Harry said.

"All of it actually. Aurora has reported that Dumbledore found out about you having left Privet Drive years ago." Remus confirmed.

"Yeah, he already confronted me about it. I told him that he didn't have any say in my life besides my education here as a student. He knows that because of a law that has been made at the time of the founders Sirius is cleared of all charges already and therefore my official guardian in the magical and muggle world."

"Yes, that was a big surprise for me finding out that he was innocent and had been working for the MI6 all those years. I'm just glad he didn't have to suffer at Azkaban while being innocent. Well, the information I have for you is that we finally got the last horcrux out of Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. She recently died in her cell at Azkaban. As she was a Death Eater, the Ministry has used the law for keeping inheritances from the beneficiary for a month. They inspected all the contents. We managed to smuggle one of our men into the team and he secured the cup. It has already been destroyed."

"So the last horcrux is gone. That's really good. Now Voldemort just has to die and that episode is over." Harry said. "How did Bellatrix die?"

"Heart failure." Remus replied.

"Did we get any others?" Harry asked.

"All intended targets are infected. They will die in intervals of a few weeks. It will look like a decease that has befallen Azkaban, but nobody will really care except for the relatives of their victims and they will just be relieved that they are finally dead. It worked perfectly and nobody could find any traces of the cause in Bellatrix body. But I don't think they really searched thoroughly."

Harry nodded. Their department had sent a package to Azkaban that had contained some sweets for the guards. The sweets were perfectly okay but in the wrapping of the package was a temperature volatile chemical that would infect anybody who bore the Dark Mark. They had found out by interrogating Voldemort that he used a combination of a potion and a charm to brand his followers with his mark.

Their potion master at headquarters had analysed the potion and broken it down into key ingredients. Together with the chemists he had developed a chemical that would react badly with two of the potion's ingredients. For all those who would investigate the deaths that would follow it would look like a normal heart failure.

"So what new orders do you have for me?" Harry asked.

"You're to clean the room of hidden things where you found the diadem of Ravenclaw of anything that could be valuable or useful for the MI6. You'll meet with one of our agents next Hogsmeade weekend and deliver the first load. We think by the end of the year you should be through everything."

"You can't be serious, the room is huge." Harry protested.

From the look on Remus' face he was serious. At least until a big grin came through.

"Damn it, Remus, I don't appreciate that kind of prank, not when I think, you're all business." Harry complained.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. But we really want to get our hands on the treasure in the room, but we think a couple of house elves would be better suited to do the job. No, your real mission is to protect an exchange student from America that has been sorted into Ravenclaw at the beginning of the year. The girl's name is Julia Thornston." Remus said and handed Harry a shrunken file.

"Second year, red hair, blue eyes, parents have moved here from Oklahoma due to them having inherited a small fortune from relatives that lived in Britain. Attended Salem Institute before transferring to Hogwarts." Harry immediately summarized the data he had collected and took the file.

"Good research on your part, Harry. That's the cover story the American CIA came up with. Thornston is a name she got from the witness protection program. Her real name is Julia di Fances and her father is one of the big players in the American underworld. Deals with different dark creatures that live up to their name and gets them out of trouble with the law. Vampires who don't restrict themselves to donated blood but enjoy the thrill of hunting their prey, mostly former muggles, the magical vampires are a bit more cautious, werewolves like Fenrir Greyback, you get the picture."

"I do. How comes she got into the witness protection program?"

"Her mother found out about the crimes Antonio di Fances helps to cover up and about his methods. She couldn't take it and went to the police who involved the CIA. Like the MI6 the CIA has magical agents and they contacted us to help hide the two. Virginia di Fances will testify against her husband in two months at court but she made it an obligation that the CIA helped her get her daughter out of the country to be sure she wouldn't be used by her father against her." Remus explained.

"Damn. Does Dumbledore know anything about this?" Harry asked.

"No, he just knows the official story. The man isn't suited to provide protection in such a case."

"Okay, I understand. Am I right in the assumption that the girl doesn't know about my position?"

"Yes, you're to maintain your cover. As you are who you are, it won't seem strange if you helped her in case something happens. We hope that erasing all trails that could lead di Fances to the hiding place of his daughter will be enough, but we are not sure. Dealing with vampires is always tricky. And the violent ones are hard to beat."

"I know, I got the training unit already. I'll look out for anything strange and keep you informed. Do you by any chance know how the wards of the castle are working against vampires?" He asked.

"They should keep them out but I'm not completely sure. Why do you ask?" Remus wanted to know.

"Because I have remembered something Slughorn said during one of his little club sessions. I avoid a majority of them, but attend one or two a month to keep Slughorn happy. He told us about an author who wrote a biography about a vampire called Sanguini. I never really thought more about it, but Slughorn often invites one of his contacts to his club meetings to give us opportunities to make contacts in the world. I don't mind him doing that at all, but if he invites that author and Sanguini it would be a security risk."

"True. I don't know if all vampires feel obliged to help di Fances with his plot or if only a certain group of them does. We would be safest if Albus would reinforce the wards."

"Or we could ask for back-up by one of the slayers. From my studies the only thing a vampire fears is sunlight and the slayer."

"You're right. That isn't a bad idea. The more Albus is kept out of the loop the better it will be. He tends to try to manipulate things too much. While he may have good intentions he loses sight of the individuals. I'll try to contact one of the watchers I met while I lived in the muggle world." Remus said.

"I didn't know you knew a watcher." Harry said interested.

"Where do you think my expertise on vampires and demons comes from? Or dark creatures in general? For a werewolf like me it's really hard to find employment in the magical world because of all the prejudices. So it's much easier to just work in the muggle world. While I couldn't hold permanent jobs there because I have to get back on my feet the day after the full moon, I can manage to work on hour basis. Not optimal but now it isn't a problem anymore. I have after all been hired because I'm a werewolf this time. I have to say it feels really nice."

Harry smiled. He was glad that his father's old friend now had a job that made him happy and that the people didn't care about his furry little problem.

"Well anyway, I met Rupert Giles when I was traveling in California. We soon became friends over talking about dark creatures. When I had to leave we exchanged addresses to keep in contact. From what I know he has a new slayer under his watch. I think she has been a slayer for two years now. They have been terribly busy in Sunnydale too." Remus told him.

"Sunnydale, I know that name. It was mentioned in History of Magic for some reason, but I don't remember why at the moment. Damn, why has Binns to make it so hard to stay awake in that class?" Harry complained, thinking hard about the connection Sunnydale had in magical history.

"It's the location of the hellmouth." Remus helped.

"Oh shit, well that slayer has to be really good to survive there for two years. The hellmouth is a nest of vampires." Harry groaned.

"From Giles' letters I presume she is. I'll write Giles if they can help us with this case if M agrees." Remus said.

"That would be good. I'm not an expert on vampires and while I'm sure I could fight off one or two of them, if they really attack in masses like the position of the girl suggests, I'd be in over my head."

"Okay, now that we have solved that, let's see how good you're with a sword, Harry." Remus said, summoning one of the swords that had appeared at the wall to him.

"No problem, Remus. Brace yourself." He answered, copying Remus' action.

Both circled each other, before springing in action.

* * *

Harry sat at the meeting of the Slug club and observed the other students that had been invited. He knew Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Susan. He recognized Blaise Zabini from Slytherin as he was in his year, the prick McLaggen from Gryffindor, Edwin Goodworth, the head boy from Ravenclaw, his counterpart Jenny Walters from Hufflepuff and Melinda Quant from Slytherin.

He also knew the names of the younger students who looked like they were really surprised to be here. The reason for Harry attending this meeting was that Slughorn had invited Julia Thornston too. Following his instructions he tried to unsuspiciously watch over the girl when she was outside of her classes and her common room. A check of the wards by team gamma had shown that the wards wouldn't keep out vampires and werewolves. This worried Harry. While he could understand that Dumbledore would key in certain individuals like Remus, who had proven to be safe, he didn't like the thought that other dark creatures could just walk into the castle.

The problem was that Harry couldn't do anything about this fact. Only the headmaster, the deputy headmaster or the heirs of the founders could change anything about the wards and Harry didn't descend of one of the founders despite the rumours of the Potters being descendants of Gryffindor. It was just that, a rumour. The Potters had been allies of the house of Gryffindor, but never intermarried. And he didn't know if any heirs were attending Hogwarts.

So he was stuck with his normal options. He was relatively sure that as long as the girl was in her classes or in her common room she would be safe. The common rooms were warded against dark creatures. It was a little known fact that the founders had wanted to keep their students absolutely safe while they were in their houses. The only magical creatures that could enter the common rooms and the dormitories were the house elves. So any attack against the girl would happen in the corridors or out in the grounds.

Fortunately she was only a second year so he didn't have to worry about Hogsmeade visits. He wondered how she came to Slughorn's attention. Nobody knew of her importance after all.

"Well, let's greet our new members to the club." Slughorn started the meeting officially. "These fine young witches and wizards have impressed me with their skills in class."

He continued narrating what kind of impression they had made. Turns out that Julia was quite good at Potions and the other teachers were also praising her skills during meetings. So Slughorn, ever the talent scout, had invited her to his club.

The meeting was more or less boring to Harry. Just at the end he heard an interesting announcement.

"So Christmas is coming up and I'll have a nice Christmas party for the Slug Club. I have a special treat for all of you. I'll invite some special guests for you to meet; I think Eldred Worple will be there with his friend Sanguini, Gwenog Jones probably as well. I'm sure you'll all have a great time. You're encouraged to bring dates to the party." He said smiling.

Harry was not so sure he would have a good time at the party. If Slughorn was really that stupid to invite a vampire into the castle he would have to be prepared. Christmas would be in two and a half weeks. That wasn't much time to prepare. Thankfully before the party would be, there was a last Hogsmeade weekend. He needed to send an owl to Remus. Perhaps he could get that slayer to accompany him to the party as his date.

* * *

Harry had told his friends that he would meet with them later at the three broomsticks. He wanted to meet with a friend from outside in the morning that he hadn't seen for some time. Neville and the twins had grinned at him and made not so subtle jabs if this could be his secret girlfriend he was meeting.

"You know the saying. A gentleman keeps his silence. As I'm meeting somebody that deserves me treating her like a lady I should behave like a gentleman. Don't you think?" He replied smirking neither denying nor confirming the suspicion.

Harry walked away from his friends leaving them pondering what was going on with Harry. He walked towards the Hogs Head. He liked the fact that there were rarely other students. And he would meet his contact in a private room so nobody would be able to overhear his conversation. He opened the door and walked over to the barkeeper.

"I'd like a bottle of butterbeer and ask if my meeting in the private room I reserved is prepared, Aberforth." Harry said.

"It is, Harry. Your date is already here." Aberforth answered him.

While Harry knew that the barman was Albus Dumbledore's younger brother, the two weren't on good terms with each other. So reserving a room in Aberforth's pub was not going to reach the older Dumbledore's ears automatically.

Harry took his bottle of butterbeer and went to the private room. There he saw a young blond woman, who was probably a little bit older than he was. Pretty young for a slayer he thought.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you. I'm Harry Potter." He introduced himself.

"Buffy Summers. Nice to meet you too. I'm curious why you would ask me to meet you all the way over here in Scotland."

"I'll gladly explain it. Did you already order something to drink?"

"No, I'm not that familiar with those drinks they sell here. And the glasses are suspect." She said.

Harry chuckled.

"True, they are. Up at the school they advise the younger kids to bring their own ones if they go here. The more popular pub in the village is the Three Broomsticks but as it's frequented by the students on Hogsmeade weekends I thought it better to set our meeting up here. I can recommend butterbeer as a drink or if you like juice better, pumpkin juice would be good. If I miss something about the muggle world here it's the drink variety you have. Sometimes I'd really love a coke."

"Okay, can you get me some of this butterbeer?" Buffy asked.

"Sure. I'll just ask Aberforth, I'll be right back."

Harry went out of the room again and got another bottle of butterbeer. Then he went back and conjured two glasses for them. He also warded the room against eavesdropping and scanned for any hidden persons before he started with the conversation.

"Neat little trick." Buffy commented his charm.

"Well, there are advantages that come with being a wizard. You asked me why I asked you to come over here. Have you been informed about my status?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's a bit hard to believe that all those James Bond movies are based on reality, but then again being a slayer and killing vampires regularly is as well. How comes you're a fully-fledged agent at fifteen?"

"I was born with a lot of power. I also have a godfather that worked for the MI6 since the time my parents were killed by a wizarding terrorist. After I returned from my first year at school and had already proven my skills during that year by saving a powerful magical artefact, he contacted me and informed me that the MI6 was interested in recruiting me. As I lived with my abusive relatives at the time, there was nothing that stopped me from leaving my old life behind.

"Before I was born there was a prophecy made about me that I'd be the one to be able to kill the wizarding terrorist that killed my parents. I temporarily stripped him of his powers in 1981 due to a sacrifice my mother made that allowed me to rebound a killing curse at him. He tried to come back in June but we managed to catch him and his followers and imprison them. The problem was the headmaster of my school is kind of manipulative and interferes in things that are not his business so he decided to have me raised at my aunt's against the wishes my parents had made before they died.

"My relatives hate anything they regard unnatural so I was miserable there all my life."

"Uh, sorry to hear that. Must have sucked to grow up like that." Buffy commented.

"It did. Well, turns out one of my primary school teachers was an MI6 agent placed to keep an eye on me for my godfather who had been framed for a crime he didn't commit. Severe miscarriage of justice, but the Ministry officials didn't care; they just needed to be seen doing something in the eyes of the public. Well, my surviving that killing curse made me famous overnight. I have a stupid moniker, The-Boy-Who-Lived, because all the others that the terrorist wanted to kill died. The agent observed my study progress and caught me at dumbing down my marks to not get into trouble with my relatives. They hated me doing better than their 'precious Diddydums'." Harry told mockingly.

Buffy snorted.

"They really called him Diddydums?" She asked laughing.

"Oh it gets better, there is popkin, Dudders, Duddy, sweetums, Dinky Duddydums, Ickle Dudleykins and I'm sure I'm forgetting some." Harry counted on his fingers, making Buffy laugh harder.

"Oh my god, they sure are crazy. You seem to be relatively normal for growing up like that."

"Well, I try to be as different from them as I can be. I left after my first year at school and then started living with my godfather. The headmaster only found out two months into this term. So what about you? I have a basic briefing on your achievements but nothing really concrete."

"Well, my career as a slayer more or less started after I moved to Sunnydale with my mom. There I met Giles, the librarian at my high school, who is also my watcher. Each slayer has her own watcher. He trained me in the use of weapons, taught me about the different ways to detect and kill demons and vampires and the like. I mostly terminate vampires. There are just too many living in Sunnydale."

"Obviously if there is a hellmouth." Harry said.

"You did your homework, Harry." Buffy said glad she didn't have to explain everything.

"Well, my friends and I got a lot of practice over the two years since I awoke as the new slayer. The Master was the most horrible vampire to fight until now."

Harry nodded. That she had experience with a vampire of that level made things a lot easier.

"Well, the situation we have here is as follows. The daughter of an American criminal is currently attending Hogwarts under a false name. Her father is helping dark creatures like vampires and werewolves that use their condition to intentionally harm others to get away from any form of punishment. As long as they can pay his prices he gets them out of trouble by any means necessary. His wife caught up to what he was doing and was disgusted. She left him and told the CIA everything she knew about the dirty deals her husband made in the underworld.

"She will testify at court but she needed to get her daughter to safety so she could concentrate to help convict her husband. Now the girl is a witch and has attended Salem Institute before coming to Hogwarts. I'm tasked with protecting her. If the wards of the castle would work like they are supposed to do, I wouldn't have any problems, but our dear headmaster didn't see the necessity to refuse dark creatures entry. And we have a lot of them living in the Forbidden Forest."

"Wait a moment. Vampires can only enter buildings if they are invited." Buffy stopped him.

"Normally you would be right, but this is a public magical school. As long as you don't ward off something it's allowed to enter. The common rooms have such wards but the rest of the castle doesn't. Normal vampires aren't my main concern. I can take out one or two of them on my own. The problems start with higher ranking ones and greater numbers. Our Potions professor announced that he would invite an author who wrote a biography about a vampire named Sanguini. He is old, magical and strong. I don't know if he is with the girl's father, but I don't really want to risk it. So I wanted to have a professional with me when he has immediate contact with the girl at the Christmas Party our teacher is holding."

"Let me get this straight, Harry, you want me to be your date to this Christmas party to make sure an old vampire doesn't get ideas about the girl you're tasked to protect. You're not sure if he will attack, but you want to better be safe than sorry." Buffy asked.

"That sums it up nicely. I'll introduce you as my pen pal from the States that is visiting relatives over Christmas. Nobody needs to know that you aren't a witch. In case somebody asks if they find out you can't use magic we'll tell them you're a squib. But I don't think it will happen. If all goes well, you just get to visit a nice party without any incident, if not, then there will be a vampire less on this world. Both favourable outcomes if you ask me."

Harry grinned.

"Alright, I'm in. Sounds like a nice way to spend the evening. But I only can stay for the party. My mom wants me back for Christmas at home. I also can't leave Sunnydale unprotected for too long. At the moment Angel is taking care that not too many of the dark ones get any ideas but I have to return soon." Buffy agreed.

"Is this Angel part of your team?" Harry asked.

"More like a partner that helps out from time to time. He is a vampire that had his soul restored by Gypsies after he killed a girl of their family. He feeds on blood bottles and is all around a nice guy."

Harry blinked. Then he shook his head.

"I never thought I'd hear about a vampire like that. But I guess having a trustworthy vampire at your side in a fight is an advantage. Wow, talk about contradiction." He shook his head.

They then went over the details of the evening and Harry gave Buffy some galleons to get herself some wizarding dress robes in Hogsmeade for the party. He knew she would know best which kind of clothes would be best to hide her equipment and still look nice.

* * *

The evening of the Christmas party Harry waited for Buffy in the entrance hall of the school. When she finally came through the doors, he was very pleased with what he saw. Buffy had decided on a dark blue dress with long sleeves that were tight on the upper arms and wider on the lower arms. Harry suspected she had some kind of weapon in the sleeves. The skirt was long but had slits on both sides that would allow for good mobility. Her hair was done in a knot with a strand falling down each side of her face.

"You look wonderful, Buffy." He complemented her.

"Thanks, you're looking good yourself, Harry. Shall we?" She answered.

Harry held his arm out for her to take and she followed his invitation. Harry led her through the castle, pointing out some landmarks. Both got many stares from other students that wondered who the young woman on his arm might be. They reached Slughorn's office where the party was located. Harry opened the door and let Buffy go inside first. Harry soon noticed that the room had obviously been enlarged.

"Harry, my boy." Slughorn greeted happily. "How nice to see you. And who might this stunning young lady be?" He asked.

"Professor Slughorn, this is Buffy Summers, my pen pal from the States. She is visiting family here in Britain over the Christmas holidays so I invited her to accompany me to the party. Buffy, this is Horace Slughorn, my teacher in Potions."

Buffy and Slughorn exchanged pleasantries. Then Harry was shown around by Slughorn. He had invited Gwenog Jones, who Harry had a pleasant talk about Quidditch with and then he saw Eldred Worple in the company of Sanguini. Harry sighed.

After the introductions, thankfully Sanguini didn't realize that Buffy was a slayer; Harry looked around and found that Julia wasn't here yet. That was good; Harry had come early on purpose so that Buffy and he could get a good impression of the room. He led Buffy over to the buffet.

"There is more than one vampire here." She said quietly.

"I know. They are hiding in the shadows. Two others. Seems like they really have planned something."

"You're armed?" She asked.

"Always. I have my wand, the sword of Gryffindor can be called immediately and I have a dagger in each of my boots."

"No stake?" Buffy asked doubtfully.

"Wizard here remember? I can transfigure anything I need at a moment's notice. And as far as I know beheading works well enough."

"Point taken."

Harry and Buffy took some drinks and then mixed with the others that were already there.

* * *

**Till next time.**


	16. Vampire Attack

**Okay, here is the next chapter which rounds up Buffy's guest performance in my story. This won't become a real x-over with Buffy, I just needed a character used to dealing with vampires and I know the Buffy series better than others, so I chose to use her as my backup. I might borrow her or another character from the Buffy verse later in the story again if necessary, but I don't know yet where the plot will lead me.**

**Thanks for all your reviews and now happy reading.**

* * *

**Vampire Attack**

Julia Thornston was happy to be at Hogwarts. While she missed her old friends from Salem, she had befriended the girls of her year in Ravenclaw easily enough. And Hogwarts was great. So old and mysterious. She hoped her mom was alright and that the trial for her father would soon be over. She wanted to see her mom again. Just now she was walking towards the room Professor Slughorn had chosen for the Christmas party of his Slug club.

She and her best friend Regina were talking what kind of food there would be and if they would really meet Gwenog Jones. Finally they reached the room and went inside. The decorations were wonderful and soon Professor Slughorn was greeting them and introducing them to the guests he had invited, Eldred Worple and a vampire called Sanguini and the real Gwenog Jones. Both Julia and Regina loved Quidditch and were really happy to meet the Captain of the Holyhead Harpies.

They went over to the buffet to see what kind of food there was and were impressed with the selection.

"Can you believe it, Julia? We really met Gwenog Jones! I can't wait to tell my mum when I go home for Christmas." Regina raved.

"Yes, it's great. I just wished my mom was home over Christmas. But with the move and everything, it's easier for me to stay at Hogwarts this year. But next year we'll celebrate together again." She said.

"Don't worry, from what I heard the older Ravenclaws telling, Christmas at Hogwarts is splendid. You'll have a good Christmas." Regina assured her.

Julia nodded. She knew she was at Hogwarts for her safety. The CIA, it had really surprised her to find out that they had magical agents, had constructed her new identity to protect her from those that worked with her criminal father. The trial would be held early in January. After that, her mother would come over to live here in Britain with her. She just had to be patient. Anonymity was her best shield.

Harry discretely pointed Julia out to Buffy. She nodded and both kept their eyes out for the hidden vampires in the room. They kept their drinks to non-alcoholics and watched over Julia. Harry talked with some of his friends, introduced Buffy to them and pretended to just have a good time. After two hours and fifteen minutes it seemed the time for the vampires to strike had come.

Julia and Regina seemed to get ready to leave the party and return to their common room. When they bid good-bye to Slughorn and walked towards the door, they suddenly were jerked up and screamed.

"Nobody moves, or we'll turn the girls here and now." One of the vampires threatened the other guests and Slughorn.

Then a blurry of two people was seen and both vampires turned to dust. Behind them stood Harry and Buffy with a sword and a stake in their hands respectively.

"That was easy." Buffy commented.

"You're right, Buffy. What I want to know is why are vampires hidden in the room at the party? Care to explain this Sanguini? Or Mr Worple?" Harry asked coldly.

Eldred Worple shivered under the look Harry Potter gave him. He had heard of the power the teenager had, but he never could really understand it before he was confronted with that look.

Sanguini was irritated. His two minions had been dispatched too easily. Normally no wizard should have been able to prevent them getting the girl. Even Harry Potter shouldn't have done that. Then he looked closer at the girl. He had never seen her before, but she had that aura. Could she be …?

Julia and Regina were currently comforted by Hermione and Susan. The two girls were appalled that vampires had been hidden at the party and tried to kidnap two students.

"I'm still waiting for an answer." Harry stated.

"Harry, my boy, I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding." Slughorn tried to moderate, but a raised hand from Harry stopped him.

"This isn't a misunderstanding, Professor. They targeted Julia and Regina specifically. I have noticed that Sanguini watched the two girls the whole evening, hence my timely interference with whatever they had planned to do to the girls." Harry stopped any argument.

Sanguini knew he just had one chance, taking the girl by force. He was one of the older vampires and even the powerful Boy-Who-Lived had nothing on him. So his face morphed into a grimace and he jumped at the girls, only to be intercepted by Buffy who began fighting against the vampire. Harry stunned Worple, who he suspected to be controlled or at least in on the plan.

Sanguini realized who this girl was. The strength she possessed was not normal for a girl her age.

"Slayer!" He hissed hateful.

"Right genius, but your realization comes too late." Buffy replied and rammed the stake into the vampire's heart, which led to him turning into a pile of ash.

The other guests at the party were pressed to the walls and some of the younger students cried. Harry took control and went around, calming them down.

"It's okay, it's over, all the vampires are dead now." He said.

Slughorn was mortified. This wasn't how he had wanted his party to go. He had thought Eldred was in control over Sanguini, but the vampire had brought two others and attacked a student for whatever reason. And then the term he had called Harry Potter's date. A real slayer?

"Professor Slughorn, get Professor Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall here." Harry ordered.

Slughorn just complied. After this attack he would have a hard time explaining to the headmaster how it could have happened.

* * *

Soon the called Professors were there and Professor Dumbledore got a report from Harry what had happened.

"So you want to tell us, that Horace invited a vampire to the party?" McGonagall asked irritated.

"Yes." Harry answered.

"How were you able to deal with the vampires so easily?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm the slayer." Buffy answered, turning all the attention to her.

"More importantly, I'm a free agent of the American CIA. The CIA has a special division that deals with magical creatures. While I'm not truly magical myself, only my special abilities are, I have much experience with vampires and demons in my position as a slayer. I was contacted by the CIA some months ago to help with the protection of a girl whose father helped dark creatures to escape persecution and detection. The CIA placed the man's daughter here at Hogwarts to continue her education in a safe environment. We had hoped she wouldn't be found, but sadly it happened.

"From one of her letters to her mother we found out that Professor Slughorn planned to invite Sanguini, a known old vampire, to the party. While we didn't know if Sanguini was connected to the girl's father, we thought it would be best to take security measures. From the media we knew that Harry Potter was a wizard with a lot of magical power and that he had fighting experience, so we contacted him, if he would be willing to help one of our agents, in this case me, to enter the castle to protect the girl during the party.

"He was willing to help us immediately. He was instructed on the finer points in fighting vampires and helped me keeping an eye open for trouble. When we spotted the vampires, that had kept hidden, take action, we took them out quickly."

"That is very interesting, Miss Summers, but why haven't I been informed if this?" Dumbledore asked.

"The less people were involved, the less risk of a breach in security. We originally thought that with the wards Hogwarts is famous for, there wouldn't have been any risk of dangerous creatures even getting inside the castle, but obviously this isn't the case." Buffy swiftly disabled all protests.

Dumbledore frowned at this stab at the security of the castle.

"Why didn't you take action sooner?" Professor Flitwick asked.

"Because we didn't know if Sanguini worked for the girl's father. He could have been neutral and the two vampires I immediately spotted could just have been bodyguards. If nothing had happened, there would have been no reason to act. I don't kill every vampire I come upon, I know that certain magical vampires keep to blood bottles and willing donators and blend into the world without causing much trouble. And Sanguini was a magical vampire. The last thing I wanted to do was provoking a war with a vampire clan if they weren't hostile." Buffy explained.

They accepted the explanation of the slayer and soon the other students that were at the party were escorted to their common rooms.

"I didn't know you knew how to fight vampires, Harry." Hermione said impressed with Harry's actions.

"Well, I read up about them for the Triwizard Tournament. But Buffy helped me with a bit of training to prepare for an eventual fight. Believe me, her strength is monstrous." Harry replied, rubbing his arm, faking bruises from training.

"But why did the CIA contact you?" Hermione continued her little interrogation.

"Buffy explained why. I was the logical choice. Who else would have been in the position to bring an outsider as his date for the party? Nobody would oppose me doing so. And I didn't mind it at all. Buffy is a great girl and it was fun getting to know her. She really has an exciting job." Harry told her.

Hermione huffed for not having been told before the party that there could have been danger. But she also understood logically that Harry had only followed orders of a CIA officer.

* * *

Harry and Buffy just entered Dumbledore's office. They had been called to discuss the fight yesterday before Buffy would return to Sunnydale.

"Ah, thank you for coming. I must also thank you for your fast action yesterday, it prevented a tragedy. I wish I'd have been informed of Miss Thornston's situation beforehand so I could have provided higher security for her though."

"I don't think that would have helped much. You don't have the best track record in keeping students that are high profile safe." Harry countered, making Dumbledore flinch.

He couldn't deny the facts that Harry had been in more dangerous situations than any student during the whole time he had attended Hogwarts.

"Let's face the facts, headmaster, while you definitely aren't evil, you lack the mentality to put the welfare of an individual before your schemes. Your high plans to defeat Voldemort cost me my childhood and decent preparation in case he returns. The first time I really trained was for the Tournament and that was on my own with the help of my friends. You didn't do anything to prepare me. You tell me he is back, was never dead but even after I encountered him in my first year you didn't do anything to prepare me. If his attempt had been successful, we would be faced with a big problem, because face it, the Ministry has to clean up the mess Fudge was allowed to make, before it would be efficient against any threat.

"Now with Julia, you would have told the teachers, they would have talked about it when they thought themselves in private, but with magic it's nearly impossible to have that amount of privacy. And rumours travel extremely fast here at Hogwarts." Harry stated.

This was another truth that couldn't be denied. Nothing could be kept truly secret at the school.

"Harry is right. The risk that anybody would have been overheard or had been legilimensed was too big for us to take. And vampires are masters of the mind arts. From what we found out, the wards of the castle don't repel any dark creature. Vampires, werewolves, acromantula, giants, trolls and dementors, I could continue but they all could just enter the castle and attack the students if they wanted to. That was the reason I was sent here to ensure Julia wasn't harmed. And it was good I did. I expect the wards will be fixed. I don't have any problem with you keying in trustworthy persons like Remus Lupin or those who have creature blood. But you can't just let any dark creature have free access to the students. Muggles that have been turned into vampires lose their souls in the process and just feel the thirst. Wizards keep an imprint of their personality so they mostly have a bit more control over the urges but turning into a vampire tends to make them dangerous in ninety eight per cent of all cases." Buffy gave out some facts.

Dumbledore nodded. He had already decided to fix the wards. He had also given Horace a thorough dressing down that he wouldn't be allowed to invite any guests he hadn't approved of. It was pure luck that nothing bad had happened to the students at the party.

What also puzzled him was the proficiency Harry had shown while dealing with the problem. There was something off. He just didn't know what it was. But he would find out; that much was sure.

"What are you going to do now with Julia?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, the vampires won't attack again so soon after they lost one of the older vampires. They will know that the wards will be fixed now and they won't be able to get in anymore. As long as Julia stays inside the castle, she will be safe. Harry has offered to keep an eye on her until the trial of her father is done. As he helped protect her, she shouldn't have any problems to trust him." Buffy said.

All of this was well choreographed. They had agreed during a last meeting to plan that it would be best that in case there was a fight, that Buffy pretended to be a CIA agent as nobody would be able to find out the truth. This enabled Harry to keep his cover.

"Are you sure you'll be able to fulfil the job, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, I am, as long as the wards are fixed I can deal with it. After all the only danger there could be would be from students and to be honest, after all the training for the Tournament even the seventh years would be really hard pressed to win against me. And I don't think there would be a mass attack. There are no more Hogsmeade weekends before the Hogwarts Express leaves for the holidays so a mass imperius isn't realistic. And the trial is January 3rd."

"What will happen after the trial?" Dumbledore wanted to know.

"That will depend on Julia's mother. I think it will be too dangerous for them to return to the States so they will be given some options outside the States by the CIA. Probably the British counterpart of the magical arm of the CIA, if it exists, will be involved." Buffy said, pretending to think.

"Hm, as far as I'm informed we don't have such a division. The Ministry only informs the Prime Minister of anything of importance for the muggle world. Otherwise the DMLE deals with things like that." Dumbledore said.

Harry didn't bother correcting him. The employment of witches and wizards by the MI6 was a secret for now. It was good to know that the magical government was too blind to see it.

"Well, we can only hope everything will be handled professionally from now on." Buffy said.

Dumbledore nodded.

* * *

Buffy had returned to Sunnydale after all the formalities had been dealt with and Harry had told Julia about the agreement that had been found regarding her protection. Julia had no problems that Harry Potter would look after her for the Christmas holidays until the trial was over. She had taken a liking to the older boy, for Harry she was like the little sister he never had. She was bubbly, smart and stubborn but cherished her friends more than anything else.

Harry had organized with Professor McGonagall that the two girls were moved to Gryffindor Tower for the holidays. The older Ravenclaws were all going home this year, so Harry thought it best for Regina and Julia, Regina had convinced her parents that she couldn't leave her best friend alone this Christmas, to be close to him in case something came up.

Both girls liked Gryffindor Tower well and soon settled in their temporary quarters.

Harry then sat them down for some ground rules.

"All right you two, we need to set up some rules how we'll do things over the holidays. Here in the common room you're absolutely safe. Nobody but Gryffindors and the teachers know the password. So nobody who could want to harm you can enter. The common room and the dorms have wards that will keep dark creatures outside. So you can do whatever you want, still regarding the normal school rules of course, as long as you stay here. Outside of the common room, you should be safe now as Professor Dumbledore has reset the wards making them keep dark creatures out. But we don't want to risk anything, so when you leave the common room, please inform me."

"How long will we have to be that careful?" Regina asked.

"At least until Julia's father is convicted. We'll wait for some time to be sure no revenge will be attempted before we lift the security measures, but until the end of the school year at least. I'll mostly be involved until the trial is done. As I'm a student myself and not a professional I only can help you during the holidays or after classes. I'll gladly help with problems if you have them, but I also will be pretty busy studying for the OWLs this year." Harry answered.

Both girls nodded. They could live with telling Harry when they wanted to leave the tower and where they went. After the trial things would be discussed with Julia's mother again. For now it was important to prevent anything to happen to Julia so that her mother couldn't be blackmailed.

"So mostly we'll have to inform you if we leave the tower and where we go?" Julia asked.

"Yes. I'll accompany you to your destination and will only leave if there is a teacher present. I'm sorry to tell you that you have to stay inside the castle though. The grounds are too dangerous for now. I'm sure in a few months when the weather gets better we'll have found a solution. When you want to go anywhere else, inform the teacher that is watching over you to get me."

"Okay, I just hope this won't be for long. I feel so restricted." Julia sighed.

"Believe me, I know what you're going through. I was in the same situation during my third year here, but nobody thought it would be prudent to tell me why they were more or less imprisoning me." Harry told her.

"So that is the reason for the scene you made two years back. I heard some older Ravenclaws talk about it." Regina stated in awe.

"I didn't know they still talked about it, but yes, I protested being treated like a prisoner for no reason. I set some things straight right in front of all students because the teachers thought I should stay at the castle despite me having permission to visit Hogsmeade. Somebody thought it would be too harsh to tell me why I needed protection. Turned out it was all rubbish. I never was in danger from Sirius Black."

"Isn't that the murderer who killed thirteen muggles and a wizard? You-Know-Who's right hand man?" Regina asked.

"No, he never was a Death Eater, the real traitor of my parents is Peter Pettigrew and he also killed the muggles with a blasting hex. Sirius was framed and I have a written wizard's oath to prove it. But our dear former Minister was a fool, corrupt and only interested in his political position so he didn't take my word and the evidence and just decided the Ministry couldn't have made a mistake."

"Why didn't the new Minister correct it then?" Julia asked.

"She has to clean up in the Ministry first. There is so much that has to be fixed in the government that it will take time until he can trust the Ministry to not just kill him when he turns up for a trial. But when the Ministry is ready he will turn up and clear his name, or if I can catch the traitor and put him on trial. But that is tricky as he has a good disguise and is very hard to find" Harry explained.

"What disguise?" Regina asked curiously.

"A rat." Harry answered.

"A rat?" Both girls asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, there are wizards and witches that can turn into animals. Professor McGonagall is one for example. She can turn into a cat. They are called animagi. Now you see the problem with finding a rat in all of Great Britain or perhaps he has escaped to the continent. It's nearly impossible to find a rat."

"Are you an animagus?" Regina wanted to know.

"No, not yet. The animagus transformation is very advanced magic. It's only taught to the best students in the NEWT Transfiguration class. But I'd like to become one. I think it's a cool ability." Harry said grinning.

There was no need to tell anybody that he was close to mastering his transformation. Sirius had been happy to find out that he had the ability and had coached him to become an animagus. But for it to be successful it was best if the wizard attempting to do it was at least thirteen or fourteen years old. With the horcrux in his scar they had decided that the training would only start after the horcrux had been dealt with. So they had started the training at the beginning of this school year. Harry's form was fitting to his love for flying.

And it was dead useful for spying too. Nobody would look twice at a raven after all.

* * *

Harry sat in the Great Hall at his desk, answering the questions of his Charms OWL. It was easy in his opinion. He could finally show his knowledge and abilities. The MI6 had given him green light to show everything requested by the examiners. If he wanted to get the best training for his NEWT classes, he needed to show he was ready for it. While most of his training was handled by the MI6, the normal wizarding education was done at Hogwarts. No need to bore him doing things twice after all.

Hermione had stressed out before the exams and bullied all of her friends into taking their studies really serious. Harry thought Ron just did what she said because a furious Hermione Granger was scary as hell. Even Fred and George had relented and kept the quiet of the common room for the preparation time.

Now they just had to take the exams and would have to wait for their results until sometime during the holidays. Harry had a full timetable as he had to take exams in all classes except Divination. And he had orders to ace them all. Sirius had impressed upon him that after the OWLs his training as a secret agent would be upped. Harry didn't know what the new training would include but he suspected if he didn't do well enough on his OWLs Sirius would think up some really unpleasant exercises.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office. It was the last day of the school year and the carriages were waiting for the students to take them to Hogsmeade Station where they would board the Hogwarts Express. One student was on his mind, Harry Potter. The boy had done things he just didn't understand. He had changed immensely from the shy and impressed boy that had arrived at Hogwarts five years ago. He had grown into a strong young man, a man who was coming into himself nicely from what anybody could observe.

But the boy had distanced himself from the teachers at school. Nobody here held the boy's trust. He knew it was their fault for not doing what was right in Harry's early years at Hogwarts. He would respect his teachers in class, but in every aspect of his private life he was massively independent and didn't let anybody tell him what to do and what not to do. Sadly nobody could force him to see reason. He had checked the records and Sirius was his guardian. And as nobody was able to find Sirius, he still didn't understand how the man could hide this well, nobody could make him give up custody of Harry.

And he had the impression that something else was going on, something he couldn't determine. Harry was stronger than he had expected him to be, considering his training in magic and otherwise. No normal fifth year student would have been able to assist a slayer like Harry had done. From the things he had observed during his practical OWLs, Harry was also very magically adept. He had breezed through the required tasks. That was quite unusual. But there was no way to find out more. Severus had reported that his mark hadn't acted up at all since it had become black during the third task of the Tournament last year.

Something had happened to Voldemort. But what? Was Harry involved in it? Well, he probably was. But he didn't tell him. He just told him Voldemort wasn't a problem anymore. What did that mean? He knew Harry had told the truth about the ritual, the interrogation of Malfoy had confirmed the ingredients for the potion that had been attempted. The investigation of the graveyard also backed it up. So why did he have the feeling that something was missing?

And annoying as it was, no tracking spell seemed to stick to Harry. They always disappeared as soon as Harry was left alone for more than five minutes. But none of the portraits knew anything. That and the boy seemed to disappear a lot of times. It was just a mystery and he hated not having all the information about something.

* * *

Harry just shook his head. Another tracking charm. Did the headmaster never learn? He just lifted the charm from his trunk and boarded the train to Kings Cross Station. The year had been interesting. After the vampire attack he had looked out for Julia for the rest of the holidays openly. After that he continued to observe her secretly. He stopped two attempts of werewolves to sneak onto the grounds undetected. Obviously Dumbledore hadn't stretched the wards far enough. From the information Agent Sinistra gave him, the trial was over in record time. Julia's father was convicted to fifteen years in prison.

They could only prove some criminal activities, not all of them, but it was enough for the CIA to get the rest of the criminals that were now unprotected. Julia and her mother had decided to wait with the decision what to do until the end of the year. Harry was to head to headquarters as soon as he reached London. During the train ride he and his friends talked about their summer plans. Hermione would travel to Italy with her parents for three weeks, Ron and Ginny would stay at the Burrow, Neville had a trip with his uncle planned to collect some rare plants, and the twins were going to start their joke shop, with a little start capital from Harry, which they were to keep a secret.

Well, the MI6 was also interested in getting the twins to invent several products. Harry had made a deal with the two that they would have a side line of products that were meant for defence against the dark arts. They would invest eighty per cent of their time in joke products and twenty in defence products. When they asked him why he wanted the defence line, he had smiled mysteriously and just said that you never knew.

Finally the train arrived at the station and Harry bid his friends good bye.

* * *

Julia and her mother sat at a meeting room in the MI6 headquarters, both being worried what would happen now. What none of them knew was that several agents were observing the room on monitors. The cameras in the room were a standard security measure in the rooms of headquarters.

Harry just entered the monitor room, where Steven Connors, their CIA contact was talking to M.

"Good afternoon ma'am, reporting back for duty." Harry greeted his superior.

"Good to see you, Agent Potter, you know Agent Connors?" M asked.

"Yes ma'am. We met briefly in January." Harry confirmed.

"I still have problems to believe that you have an agent who is fifteen years old and already middle class. Even the children of our agents that are trained early on to protect themselves normally don't become that good that early. They are normally too occupied with their schooling to do much training." Connors said shaking his head.

"Well, Agent Potter is special. But we are here to discuss the options the di Fances have now that we got Antonio di Fances into prison. Virginia and Julia need to find a place where they can securely live. We have them in the witness protection program, but we need to have them more or less completely disappear." M explained.

"That will be difficult as Julia needs to go to school." Connors said. "And with her being discovered at Hogwarts I don't know if she would be safe staying there."

"What is the state of the wards Agent Potter?" M asked.

"Lacking. I don't know if Dumbledore plans to strengthen them over the holidays and has only fixed the worst problems during the school year but at the moment I can't guarantee Julia's safety there. And next year she would be allowed to visit Hogsmeade on weekends. The wards don't reach that far." Harry stated.

"That's definitely a problem. We'll probably have to relocate the two again." Connors said.

"Perhaps not." Harry said thinking about an idea he had had some days ago and wanted to discuss with his superiors.

"What is your idea, Agent Potter?" M asked, knowing the young man was becoming a gifted agent.

"Our opponents will think we'll relocate them. After all it would be the logical thing to do. They won't waste their time looking for Julia at Hogwarts after a brief check of the register at the Ministry. They can't access Hogwarts' register in the castle as it is only accessible by the headmaster and his deputy. And records at the Ministry are easy to falsify. I say we make them believe we have Julia attend another school next year, perhaps in Australia as there wouldn't be a language barrier there. I'm sure our allies in their secret service would help us fake an entry in the school register there. They will hunt something that isn't there." Harry gave a rough image of his idea.

"Classical distraction. Even if they find out that the family isn't in Australia, they would have to find them elsewhere. We could also fake more than one transfer to confuse them, which would make them believe that she really left. They would only find out if any of the students at Hogwarts that knew Julia worked for them. Which is unlikely. I like the plan. But wouldn't the teachers at Hogwarts talk about it?" M asked.

"Not if we make them swear magical oaths to not disclose that information ma'am." Harry replied.

"Tricky to make them do it. How could we get them to swear the oath?" Connors asked.

"Contact Dumbledore directly. The man isn't evil after all, just terribly nosy and manipulative. But Julia isn't of interest for him. So he wouldn't meddle with her. We just need another name in the register instead of Thornston and we are good. And after the vampire attack last year he will be eager to protect her right this time." Harry said.

"We'll discuss it with Mrs di Fances and her daughter. If they agree, we can try it." Connors said.

"Agent Potter, you'll remain here and watch the conversation. I don't want to blow your cover." M said.

"Understood ma'am." Harry answered.

* * *

**Alright, another chapter is finished. Till next time.**


	17. A Surprising Development

**Hi, here is the next chapter. Finally someone from Harry's circle of friends finds out about his job. Who? You will have to read the chapter. Happy Easter.**

* * *

**A surprising development**

Harry stood near the balcony at the annual charity event for the German 'Ein Herz für Kinder' foundation. It was his first mission as an adult wizard. He had turned seventeen six days ago and had celebrated with all his friends at Longbottom Manor. Mrs Weasley had offered to hold the party for him and he had gladly accepted for her taking care of the food. They had chosen the Manor as the location as there was more space and it would be easier on the Weasleys for they had to organize Bill and Fleur Delacour's wedding as well. Thankfully the wedding had been held in France the day after his birthday, so there were only some preparations the Weasleys had had to do before they went there with a portkey. So he had decided to make it a double party for him and Neville who had his birthday one day before him.

The party had started on the 30th and went well into the 31st. That way both boys celebrated on the day they were born. He had also had a party at headquarters where Sirius made sure to embarrass him thoroughly. Some things were better kept a secret. He shuddered about some of the stories Sirius had told. And why the hell did he have to bring baby photos? Even a secret agent hated being shown up that way. At least he had managed to get one prank spell into Sirius' defence. He had to run around for the rest of the day with neon coloured hair, changing the colour every five minutes. Sirius' cousin Tonks, whom Harry had met once, had been the inspiration for the spell.

Now he was observing the assembled members of high society, famous athletes, actors and actresses, several politicians, some scientists and so on. The MI6 had got a tip that something was going to happen during the gala and they had sent three agents to deal with the potential threat. Sirius, or more appropriately Lionel Morane, was leading the mission. He would be the one taking care of the high ranking threats. Jonathan Percer, a muggle agent with a lot of high ranking missions on his record was connecting their monitoring equipment with the surveillance cameras in the building.

Harry's job was to get close to the daughter of one of the politicians and through her get close to the target of the criminals, her mother, who was an outspoken opponent of a corrupt business man. Sadly the business man had hired a criminal organization to deal with his opponent. This operation was a joint mission with the Germans. Some of the criminals that were suspected to try and assassinate the politician had their base in England, so they had been involved.

Harry had already spotted the sixteen year old daughter of the politician. She was standing near her mother and obviously she was bored. Well, he could help with the boredom. He got a drink from one of the waiters and inconspicuously walked down towards the girl. He listened a bit to the topics the guests were discussing. Mostly it was meaningless small talk.

He listened now to the conversation the girl had with a friend that had just come over to her, carrying a glass of sparkling wine.

**(I'll write the conversations in English as I don't want to translate everything from German, just think the conversations are held in German.)**

"And then he had the gall to dump me with that bitch Schröder in the same room. I tell you, the guards these days are completely crazy. I mean, everybody knows that Schröder and I don't get along. The bitch then dared to blame our situation on me. As if it was my fault that she wasn't ready to leave the disco, at the time we had agreed upon. I mean, I only let her come along, because if I didn't, she would have run to her father and spilled everything." She said.

"But, Miriam, I'm sure your guards only want to keep you safe." The other girl, whose voice Harry found terribly familiar answered.

"No, Hermione, you just don't understand. My mum is going crazy with her obsession to keep me safe. It's getting out of control. I can't go anywhere without a bodyguard. They watch me 24/7. If you were in my situation you would go crazy too."

'Shit, it really is Hermione.' Harry thought. 'Well, no possibility to escape. But I wonder, what is she doing here?'

Before Harry could go on and do anything about the situation, he heard a shot in the air. Really, those criminals had to be stupid.

"Everybody listen to me!" The man with the gun shouted, gaining screams from the guests.

"This is a hostage taking. Don't even try to resist or we'll kill you. Follow our orders and you'll live!" He announced over the screams.

Harry quickly made eye contact with Lionel to try and get any hint what they would do. Lionel was calmly standing in the same spot he had been in before the criminals had stormed the gala. Harry concluded it wasn't time to act yet. So he started observing and taking in every small detail about their hostage-takers. Their weapons were standard guns. Each man had several additional packs of ammo in his pockets. He wondered if they would search the guests for weapons.

Soon the guests had been sorted into groups which were monitored by two criminals respectively. Harry stood near Hermione and Miriam. The criminals had put all persons younger than twenty in one group. The obvious goal of the hostage-takers was blackmail. They had taken all the famous actors, athletes and writers and put them in one group. The politicians were another group. Then there was a group for the guests they couldn't directly sort.

Harry soon noticed that Lionel and Jonathan were absent.

'They must have managed to hide in the commotion.' Harry thought.

Well, Lionel wasn't a 00 agent for nothing. He suspected some of the German secret agents were also hidden and waiting for an opportunity to take the hostage takers down. Well, they hadn't expected a full hostage taking. More like an assassination. Perhaps this was a separate group.

Most of the others around him were completely terrified. Harry knew it would be hard to support his colleagues. And he couldn't use any magic. Well, he was trained for situations like this. Thankfully Hermione hadn't recognized him yet. It would just get him attention he didn't want. And she would start to ask questions. Well, that would probably happen either way because he would be in action as soon as the hostage-takers were distracted from the youngest group. Today he really regretted not having insisted to go disguised. But who would have thought he would meet one person in Germany who could identify him?

* * *

"Boss, we have all the guests secured in separate rooms. Everything is ready to tell the government our demands." One of the masked hostage-takers said.

"Very good. It was fortunate for us to overhear the little plan those amateurs were going to enact." The leader sneered.

"As if just killing one politician would make such a difference. We can gain much more with the hostage taking and in the chaos nobody will even notice that she was killed for a special reason."

"Yes, boss. We have also searched the guests; nobody had any kind of weapons on them." The subordinate reported.

"I didn't expect anybody to have them. They had to be left at the entrance to ensure security at the gala. All the better for us. When will the line for the demand be ready?" The boss asked.

"Perhaps another thirty minutes. Parrot is checking everything at the moment."

"Good, return to your post, Spider." The boss ordered.

* * *

Harry recalled the location of their prison room in the building from the blueprints he had been given to study before they had started the mission. They were in one of the rooms on the north side of the building. They were on the second floor so getting the other hostages out through the window wouldn't work. Thankfully their guards were a bit bored. He could use that to his advantage. They were currently busy tying all their hostages up. In this they were professional. After all, a group of hostages could overwhelm two guards easily if they were left free. Not that common ropes would be a problem for Harry.

When it was his turn he flexed his muscles. It would enable him to just let the ropes fall off of him when he wanted to escape.

"Now you'll stay quiet. The room is locked and we have guards keeping an eye on you all the time. So don't even try something stupid!" One of the men said and they left the room.

Harry heard them lock the door and relaxed his muscles. The ropes loosened but he kept them on for show. He didn't know if they had cameras in the room yet. He carefully looked around and detected one camera in a corner but that was all there was to the security of the room. Well, the other hostages with him would probably be unable to do anything about their situation so it was understandable that the hostage takers would be overconfident.

He slowly made his way over to the spot directly under the camera. When he was sure the camera couldn't spot him anymore, he let the ropes fall down silently. He was glad that the other prisoners were busy with wailing about their situation. He looked at Hermione and saw that she was thinking about ways to get out of here. He just hoped she wouldn't do anything stupid. Using magic in a situation like this was a clear breach of the Statute of Secrecy. Obviously she had the same thought, as she frowned.

Harry immediately spotted a ventilation outlet which was big enough to let him use it. The only problem was it lay in the view of the camera. But he wasn't a secret agent for nothing. The research department had equipped him with the means to trick any standard camera like the one in the room. He used a camera function in his wrist watch to get a small video of the hostages in the room. He just needed four minutes worth of film. Finally he had enough material. He separated the tape from his watch, stuck the little playing device to the wall beneath the camera, connected the device with the camera and put it into repeat mode. Now for the next minutes he could escape through the ventilation system. The time he had to escape was four repeats, meaning sixteen minutes. After that the device deactivated to not alarm anybody watching the monitors.

Of course now the others noticed him.

"What do you think you're doing?" One boy asked.

"Getting out of here to get help." Harry answered and continued taking the screws out of the grill.

"Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Not now, Hermione, I don't have time for explanations. Later." He stopped her asking.

Finally he got the grill out.

"Listen, the camera is in repeat mode of the room for about seven more minutes. But you have to keep calm so nobody finds out I got out. I'll soon be back with help. But if they find out I'm missing, things will be more difficult for me." Harry said.

The others in the room were nodding. They really hoped he could do what he had said. It was like one of those James Bond movies.

* * *

In the monitor room the hostage takers were comparing notes of their hostages.

"Well, it seems we got some really valuable hostages here. The managing agencies for some of the actors will pay nicely for getting their stars back. The politicians are also valuable. Anybody interesting with the younger hostages?" The boss asked.

"Some children of famous people. One daughter of a leading scientist, some of their parents are also our hostages."

The man gave his boss a list.

"Well, well, well, isn't this interesting. I never had expected to find his daughter here." The boss said grinning.

"Boss, did you find somebody important?" One man asked.

"Oh yes. I never expected to get such a prize. Some years ago, before I founded this group, I was working with a scientist in America. I got there through connections with one of my acquaintances. Not important who they were. But that scientist had developed an interesting formula which is really valuable. Sadly the laboratory was found and raided by the CIA. I never heard of him again and thought he had been killed in the chaos. But obviously he survived. And now his daughter is here."

He looked at the monitor of the room where the younger hostages were being held. He soon spotted the girl.

"That girl with the bushy hair. Cheetah, bring her here. It will be nice to speak about my old friend again. I'm curious what he does for a living now." The boss ordered.

The man called Cheetah left the room to fulfil his order. He wondered how the boss could identify the daughter of a former acquaintance if he thought the man dead for years, but perhaps he had seen a family similarity.

What none of the men in the room had noticed was a small camera that had been installed quickly in the ventilation outlet in the monitor room. It was connected to Harry's watch and right now he was getting the images and sound of the conversation.

* * *

'Shit, that's Hermione. Well, I'll have to deal with it when the time is right. For now I need to silently take out as many hostage takers as possible. Thankfully they didn't think we could have stored additional equipment in the building.'

Harry had left the ventilation system and cautiously sneaked towards one of the storage points for the additional equipment. He found the nearest one in a cupboard for cleaning supplies. Not very imaginative but it worked after all. He took a box declared as disinfectant and lifted the lid. He took out ten small syringes that were filled with sleeping drugs that would work within seconds of entering the blood stream.

In a box with air fresher he found the same green pellets he had used two years prior during the infiltration of the crime syndicate building. In case he couldn't sneak up close enough to his victims to use the syringes. Then some grenades filled with them for farther away targets that needed to be taken out quickly. He took a mask to cover his lover face out of the sack with toilet paper and was ready to go.

* * *

Lionel was already busy taking out hostage takers. The first priority was getting the hostages to safety. He was sure Harry would be able to get them out as was the plan. Thankfully they had prepared the building for three different possibilities of events. The assassination attempt they had thought would happen, a bombing scenario and the hostage taking. But before they could do that, they needed to decimate the numbers of their opponents. It was just impossible to sneak that many people out of a building. One or two persons you could normally get out without a problem. But three hundred? Not a chance. He had avoided being taken captive and had listened to some conversations. The main objective of the hostage takers was to extort ransom for their hostages.

He estimated there were about fifty hostage takers. It would take some time for them to take out an appropriate number to take out the leader of the group. Jonathan was also somewhere in the building. His job was to sabotage the technique. The hostage takers had successfully brought the observational equipment under their control. But they didn't know about secret agents being among the guests. Roters and Kinkel, two of the German agents, were, as far as he had seen, in the west part of the building. Steffens had been taken captive as had Harry. But both would easily be able to escape.

* * *

Harry was busy injecting the drug into the veins of two hostage takers. He had quickly ambushed them and knocked them out. The drug would make sure that they wouldn't wake up until ten hours in the future. That would give them enough time to get this hostage taking solved. He quickly deposited the two in an empty office without camera presence and then locked the door behind them. It wouldn't do for them to be coincidentally found. Then he went to find his next victims.

* * *

Hermione sat in the room where the other captives were held. She was confused. How in Merlin's name was Harry at the gala? And why did he speak perfect German? She spoke the language as her father had raised her knowing it. He told her, her grandparents on his side were Germans and he wanted her to know the language he had grown up with. Her best friend turned into a bigger enigma than she had thought before. Miriam, her pen pal, had invited her to accompany her to the gala and she had been happy to see something new.

They had spent the last four days touring Munich and Hermione had been excited about the sights Miriam had shown her. While the famous 'Oktoberfest' was months away, Miriam knew the best places to party in the city. And the best places for shopping. The gala was one of the events Miriam hadn't been fond of, but with her mother being an important politician, she was obliged to go. Now the whole gala was target of a hostage taking which brought her back to her best friend. Harry seemed to know exactly what to do. The way he had disabled the camera and vanished through the ventilation system was like in a movie.

But it was ridiculous to think Harry could be a secret agent. He was after all just seventeen. But the thing that confused her most was that he did all the things he did without magic. She was sure of it. She would have a long talk with him once they got out of here. Then she heard footsteps outside the door. The door opened. A masked man looked inside, obviously searching for a certain person. Hopefully not Harry. Then his look stopped at her.

"Ah, there she is." He said.

Hermione was nervous, what could the man want from her? She was just a normal girl. While her parents had a well-to-do dentist practice, they weren't rich or so.

"You're coming with me. The boss wants to see you." He told Hermione, who now was very nervous.

She was led outside the room. She couldn't remember the way she was led to their destination. She just hoped nothing horrible would happen to her. She didn't know how long Harry would need to find help, but only forty minutes had passed since he left the room. When they had walked six minutes, her guard suddenly fell to the ground, passed out. She looked around and saw a hand waving at her from behind a corner. She went there and was met with a man in the middle of his thirties if she guessed correctly.

"Quick, you need to get out of here. The boss of the hostage takers obviously knew your father in the past and wants to use you to blackmail him."

He freed her of her bounds.

"Thank you so much. Who are you? Are you from the police?" She asked.

"No time for long explanations. My name is Lionel Morane and I work for the British Secret Service. I can't tell you more." He said.

"Okay, I understand." Hermione answered.

"How can I get out of here?" She asked.

"I'll take you to a safe point and from there on another agent will take care of getting you out of the building. At the moment we are disabling as many hostage takers in secret as we can, but once they realize that somebody is working against them, things could get nasty very fast."

Hermione understood. She had been in enough dangerous situations at Hogwarts with Harry to know how to act in those. She followed the orders of this agent without questioning him. Soon she was a good way away from the monitor room, which Lionel had pointed out as the centre of command of the hostage takers. The room they finally stopped in was away from the official part of the building where the gala had been.

Mr Morane looked into the deemed safe point.

"Alright, this place should be safe for some time. I need to get back to my job, time is of essence. Your contact should come here soon enough. He will lead you and other freed hostages out of the building as soon as possible. Keep quiet and if you hear something, hide. Good luck." He said and left her in the office.

Hermione decided to look around for some good hiding spots if the hostage takers happened to look into this room. While she was alone she would be able to use magic, so a disillusionment charm would work well enough for her, but she hoped she wouldn't need it. She just wanted to know what her dad had to do with the boss of the hostage takers.

* * *

Harry had just taken out his fifth and sixth opponents, when he heard shooting near him. He silently crept towards the place and hoped that none of the hostage takers had opened fire at the hostages. What he saw was one of the German agents having to defend himself from three masked hostage takers. This wasn't good, with the commotion they made it would make their job that much more difficult. Taking out their opponents if they knew that they were there was not easy. Harry took out his own gun, put a sound silencer on top of the barrel and aimed from behind a corner. He had much experience with moving targets from his training in the Room of Requirement.

He aimed without problem, shot, and hit two of the three into their legs, making them fall to the ground, therefore giving his German colleague the opening he needed to take out the last one. Harry took one of their guns; his German colleague took the other two. They quickly injected the drug into the fallen men.

"Thanks for the back-up, Potter. We need to hurry, with the shooting right now, I have attracted too much attention. They will send somebody here soon. How far have you got with your part of the operation?"

"Six out of ten are successful in dreamland, Kinkel. I need to go now; I need to get the other four before everything goes down the drain."

Kinkel nodded and both left their position.

* * *

"What do you mean we had a shooting?" The boss asked.

"Somebody is in the building who has a gun; he took out Monkey, Lion and Elephant. We found them injured and obviously drugged. Nothing we did to wake them up worked." The man reported.

"Damn, we need to find the one or ones who are responsible for this and take him or them out. Antelope, Owl, Cat, Mouse and Rat. Get to it immediately but don't neglect the guards at the rooms the hostages are kept in." The boss ordered.

"Yes, boss!" They replied and left the command centre.

The boss of the hostage takers was wary. How did they overlook an opponent that obviously knew what he did? They had searched the building and nobody had known of their plan to take the guests of the gala hostage.

* * *

Harry knew the time was up. He had managed to drug another two hostage takers before they started a thorough search of the building. Damn, now they would need to use bigger guns. They couldn't take them out in small numbers anymore. He just hoped they had reduced their numbers enough to make that job possible. He needed to get to the meeting point immediately. So he used his knowledge of the building to get there, evading any cameras on his way.

When he arrived he saw Lionel and Kinkel were already present.

"Report." Lionel stated.

"Eight drugged, helped with subduing two with Agent Kinkel." He said.

Lionel nodded. The complete report had to wait until they had the time to hear it.

"Six drugged and three shot and drugged." Kinkel said.

Just then Jonathan, Steffens and Roters came around the corner.

"Your reports?" Lionel asked again.

"The monitoring system is ready to be taken down. Drugged two of them." Jonathan reported.

"Seven drugged, one dead." Roters said.

"All the hostages are freed from their bounds and are awaiting rescue." Steffens said. That had been his main job. Get the hostages out of the ropes so that they could move them quickly and put permanent dummy images on the cameras in the rooms.

"That means they are down thirty-two with the six I got. Means we have twenty or so left. They have split the hostages in three groups, that means we have at least fourteen directly against us in a fight. Not as much down as I hoped, but we can work with it now. Percer, take the monitors down in five. Potter, Steffens get the hostages out in seven, Kinkel, Roters, you're with me, direct confrontation of the hostage takers. I have all the information you collected. The tapes from the camera in the ventilation outlet in the monitoring room are sent directly to our command centre, so they are aware what is going on here. Potter, the girl the boss of the group wanted to have is at safe point 3. Get her out with the others."

"Yes, sir!" They answered and Harry and Jonathan left to do their parts.

* * *

Harry and Steffens stood ready to take down the guards at the three rooms that held the hostages. Thankfully they held all the hostages on the same floor. Harry looked at his watch to time his attack with the timetable Lionel had given him. When the clock struck seven minutes, he threw a sleep grenade into the floor, filled with fast working sleeping gas. He waited until he heard four thuds, then he and Steffens went to free the hostages. They had miscalculated on the number of guards. There had only been four. Obviously the rest was ordered to help catch the intruders.

Harry used his remaining sleeping drug and injected it into the four. You could never be too cautious in his line of work. Then he stole the keys to the rooms from one of the drugged men and opened them.

"Listen, we have to get out of here immediately. Agents from the Secret Service are taking out the hostage takers while I'm speaking. I'm tasked getting you out of here. Follow my orders and you'll be home in a few hours." He spoke authoritarian.

"But Hermione…" Miriam, the politician's daughter started.

"Has already been saved by an agent and is at a secured location. We'll pick her up on our way out. I don't want anybody to create a panic. We have taken out over half the hostage takers and the best agents in the building are busy taking out the rest. If you keep calm this will be no problem. We can deal with anybody they can send to stop us. Now follow us. Walk quickly but don't run. The cameras on our way have been disabled but we don't want to tip our escape route too early." Steffens told them.

They got nods and went out of the room. They repeated the performance two times in the other rooms. It was just easier to take one room at the time. Harry then led the hostages out of the building. Steffens would take care of keeping any other opponents of their backs. Harry soon arrived in the part of the building where the offices were located. He went to safe point 3 to collect Hermione.

"Hermione, please come out, we are leaving the building." He called her.

"Harry?" She asked carefully.

"Yes. It's really me. To prove it, we have been friends since our first year at boarding school; it was on Halloween that we became best friends after getting through a dangerous situation that could have been avoided if Ron hadn't been such a git after class with Professor Flitwick." He said.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright. I was worried you would be hurt." She said, coming out of her hiding place.

"You know me; I have been in worse situations than this one. Remember fourth year?" He tried to calm her.

"Listen, I'm going to take you out of the building. We are leaving through the kitchens. It's located two floors down from here. If anything happens, like some of the hostage takers trying to stop us, I want you to take over for me while I deal with them. I hope the agents of the Secret Service will keep them busy until we are out, but you never know. Agent Steffens is already doing everything to distract them from our group."

"Harry, why are you talking like that?"

"I don't have time for explanations now, Hermione. Just do what I said." He cut her off.

"Come on everybody. We are leaving." He ordered and continued leading them to the stairs to get them to the kitchens.

The first fifteen minutes they didn't encounter anybody. Harry found the door to the kitchens and told Hermione to wait with the other hostages out of sight, until he had explored the room and the backdoor before they followed him out. Hermione reluctantly nodded.

"If I find resistance, I'll try to get them to follow me and leave the door unwatched. The most important thing is getting everybody out of here. Okay, Hermione?"

"Yes. Be careful, Harry." She said and he nodded.

Harry carefully opened the door to the kitchen. He used a mirror to look around, but the room was empty. He went forward to reach the backdoor. That was the point his luck ran out. Two men, who were obviously guarding the backdoor, came into the kitchen and spotted him.

"What are you doing here?" One of them yelled, pointing his gun at Harry.

"Uhm, would you believe me if I said I got hungry and wanted to get a little snack?" Harry asked.

"A joker? Well, you won't have much to joke about when the boss has talked to you. Hands behind the head where I can see them." He ordered.

Harry followed the commands. As long as these two went away from their post, the hostages could escape.

"Sparrow, contact the boss, we have caught a rat in the kitchens." He ordered his companion, who immediately followed his orders.

"You must really suck to get the code name Sparrow. Why didn't you complain? I'd have asked for a cooler codename." Harry commented, keeping any attention the two had on him.

"Shut up!" Sparrow shouted at Harry.

"I must have hit a nerve. Hey what's your codename?" He asked the man with the gun.

"That isn't important." He said.

"It can't be worse than Sparrow, can it?" Harry asked.

"Shut up, or you'll get acquainted with my gun!" Was the reply.

"I must have hit a nerve." Harry pondered.

"The boss says we are to bring the joker up to the monitor room. He wants to speak to him in person, Hedgehog." Sparrow said, stopping his call.

"Hedgehog? Well, it's better than Sparrow. I mean, there is that cool computer game about Sonic the Hedgehog." Harry said.

"I said shut up!" Hedgehog yelled, lowering his gun for a second.

But it was all Harry needed. He kicked out and hit Hedgehog's hand perfectly, sending his gun flying away. He followed his attack on Hedgehog with one on Sparrow, which disarmed the man as well. Then he proceeded to brutally knock Hedgehog around. Soon he managed to hit him on the neck, knocking him out cold. Sparrow tried to call for reinforcement, but his handy fell victim to Harry's next attack. He soon shared Hedgehog's fate. Harry took out the last syringe of drug he had and injected half of it in each of the men's veins. That would keep them out of the game.

He opened the door.

"Quick, there will be reinforcements here soon, because the two failing to deliver me to their boss." Harry said.

"There they are!" He heard a shout.

Five men were running at them, guns ready to shoot.

"Damn it. Get them out, Hermione, run!" He shouted, taking out the guns he had taken from his victims and began shooting at the hostage takers, which jumped out of his line of shooting.

He heard two painful shouts, he must have hit at least two of them. He couldn't say how badly they were hurt though.

Hermione looked like she wanted to help him, but remembered his earlier orders. She got all the hostages out through the kitchen and just hoped her best friend would survive that encounter. He had to explain a lot to her and damn if he died before she could grill him.

* * *

Harry was covering behind a column, shooting at his opponents, who had worse cover than him. But he knew he couldn't last long. He switched to one handed shooting and took out his last grenade with sleeping gas. He just hoped it was enough. He just needed either them getting closer to him or him getting closer to them. Then he was hit. A graze at his left thigh. He ignored the pain, he had been trained to endure worse. Pulling his mask up again, he waited for a chance to act. Finally he had a small reprieve and he used it to jump out of his cover, run at the now four remaining opponents firing his gun. Then he was close enough and threw his grenade. He got hit two more times but he managed to get his grenade in the centre of the group where it exploded and took them all out.

Harry winced at his wounds. One bullet had hit his left arm, the other one was stuck in his right lower leg. He limped towards the kitchen and used towels to rudimentary stop the blood flow. He was in too much pain to properly cast any spells to help. Additionally he didn't know how to get the bullets out and he couldn't really risk using magic here. It wouldn't do if somebody saw it on the tape. Well, the wounds weren't life threatening. He just had to get out and get medical help.

He took out a pen, which had been modified by R and bit the cartridge open. Instead of ink it was filled with a strong pain potion. It would help him getting out of here. The effect was immediate and he felt his wounds numbing. He knew it was only temporary and he had one hour until the effects stopped. That would be enough time to escape. He went out through the kitchens towards the command centre.

* * *

**And cut, the rest will be up in two weeks, see you later.**


	18. Secret Agent Harry Potter

**Hi, here is the next chapter. Hermione is going to find out a bit more about Harry's job. Happy reading.**

* * *

**Secret Agent Harry Potter**

The whole operation was a success. All the hostages had been evacuated and the hostage takers had been caught. Just one thing was disturbing Sirius' happiness and that was that his godson was currently in the emergency room for surgery. His injuries hadn't been severe enough to give reason to worry but he had hoped Harry would manage to finish the mission with small injuries. Sadly he had been forced into a shooting with five opponents to give the freed hostages the opportunity to leave the building.

He had also found out about one disadvantage of their sleeping gas grenades. You needed to be in throwing distance of your opponents to use them effectively. That was a point the research department would try to remedy immediately. For those agents who didn't have the license to kill, principally every agent except the 00 agents, it was vital to be able to take out their opponents anytime. When Harry was healed he would put him through more training to prevent another similar injury next time. And he would be drilled in unsuspicious magical emergency surgery under pain. If Harry had been able to get the bullets out of his arm and leg, he would have been able to just close the wounds. He knew those spells.

Well, for a seventeen year old agent he had done well. But he could do better and it was his job as his godfather to make sure next time it would happen.

* * *

Hermione sat in a waiting room of the German branch of the MI6 headquarters. She had been informed that her parents would meet her there. She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that her best friend was a secret agent for the British Secret Service. The man who had saved her, Lionel Morane, had told her that much. Harry Potter worked for the MI6 as one of their magical secret agents. She hadn't been told more though. And she was worried about Harry being in surgery for the wounds he had got securing their escape from the building.

"Hermione!" She heard the voice of her mother.

She looked up and saw her parents entering the room. Her father was talking with Morane. Did he know him? They seemed to be familiar with each other.

"It's time to tell her. If you don't, she will probably be in more danger because she wouldn't look out for more of your enemies. She only has one year at Hogwarts left, D, and she is of age." Lionel quietly said.

"I know. I tried to keep my family out of my past and my job. As long as they were ignorant nobody could use them against me" Hermione's father Daniel Granger replied. "Of course that didn't work anymore after I married Emma. I had to tell her. She has been creating my alibi for nearly twenty years now, Lionel."

"Yes, I know. But the boss of those hostage takers knew you in the past. While we have him arrested, there might be more of them. And you're one of our best scientists, D. This could repeat itself in the future."

"You're right, I'll tell her. If only to satisfy her curiosity. She knows too much now to let it be. Will you help me with some details?"

"Of course. I'll add what I can."

Both went over to where Emma Granger was hugging her daughter.

"Hermione, I'm very happy to see you unharmed." Dan said.

"Dad, I'm so glad to be here with you. But why did the boss of the hostage takers want me of all those they had caught? The man who was supposed to bring me there said, he knew you from the past." Hermione asked.

Daniel Granger sighed. This wouldn't be easy.

"Well, that is a complicated matter. You have to promise me that you won't tell anybody what I'm about to tell you now. There are things, you don't know about me. Things I have kept a secret to protect you and your mother. You can't tell anybody at your school, well except Harry I guess, as he is involved in this."

"I promise." Hermione answered, recognizing how serious her father was.

"Okay, let's start with some introductions. This is Lionel Morane, otherwise known as Agent 008. I know that you think, this sounds like a James Bond parody. Hermione, those movies and books are based on reality. The MI6, the British Secret Service exists and I'm working for them. I have been part of the MI6 for about thirty years now. I was recruited for my scientific abilities. I'm not really a dentist, even if I can play the part, my specialty is chemistry with a profound secondary specialization in biology and the development of materials based on natural resources.

"I have been born in Germany, in the former GDR to be precise. It was an oppressive regime, but they were good at spotting talents and pushing them to be the best. I was one of those talents. I was tasked with developing chemical weapons for the former USSR. They had a cold war with the west to be the most powerful force in the world. Especially the Americans and the Russians. So I was encouraged at school to excel in scientific classes.

"I regrettably developed a terrible chemical. If that abomination would get into the wrong hands, millions would die. It was more of a coincidence, but with that chemical, the USSR would have been able to win the Cold War easily. The MI6 and the CIA stormed the laboratory I was working at in America, a facility meant to undermine the American security measures and hit from the inside once the chemicals were ready, and destroyed all the notes on the chemical before it could be produced in great numbers. I was really glad that it happened. I had never been comfortable to develop weapons for mass destruction and genocide."

Hermione gulped. She had never expected for her dad being involved in that kind of things.

"The MI6 managed to get me and one of my colleagues out of the laboratory and offered me help. They knew the Russians wouldn't rest until they found me and got the formula for the chemical. So I needed to leave East Germany for good. Thankfully that was easy from America. But I couldn't stay there either as they would look for me there first. I wanted to help undo some of the damage my knowledge had produced and asked if I could work for the MI6 in the research department. M, the head of the MI6 accepted and now I go by the codename D." He said.

"I see. That is a lot to process, Dad. But I'm glad that you chose to help others with your abilities now. Mr Morane, what about Harry? How can he be a secret agent with just seventeen?" She asked.

"I'll tell you as much as I can, but since you're not a member of the MI6, the things you're allowed to know are restricted. Harry Potter was monitored by us since he went to primary school."

Hermione gasped at that. Why would the MI6 monitor a student at primary school? Was this about You-Know-Who?

"I can guess you're wondering why we would do such a thing. Well, Harry had a prophecy that told that he would be the only one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord, known as Voldemort. It was the reason that terrorist attacked his home on Halloween 1981. And the reason why Albus Dumbledore tried to control Harry so much, not that he was really successful. We knew about the prophecy and kept an eye on Harry to see how he developed. We made sure that he was supported at school by one of his teachers. You see, Harry is really intelligent.

"He has studied material that was years beyond his age group in primary school and kept up with his muggle studies during his time at Hogwarts. After his first year at Hogwarts, where he proved to us that he was ready to be trained, we sent an agent to invite him."

"But why would Harry accept that? I mean, sure he had faced You-Know-Who at the end of that year, but why would he join the muggle Secret Service?" She interrupted.

"Many reasons. Dumbledore, in the delusion that he was ensuring Harry had a childhood, kept much information from Harry. Vital information, Hermione. We couldn't let this continue without interfering. So we offered to train him to be ready to face Voldemort once he got back. That happened at the end of your fourth year at Hogwarts by the way. Harry's involvement in the Triwizard Tournament was a plan of Voldemort to regain a body. Sadly for him we knew the plan and prepared the battlefield.

"We caught Lucius Malfoy while he was guarding Bartemius Crouch senior and put him under a potion that has similar effects as an Imperius curse. Harry had orders to win the Tournament. We had thought of entering him ourselves but didn't see any possibility to do so without damaging Harry's reputation. So when his name came out of that goblet as a fourth participant, we were happy as we now had an opportunity to let him show more of his abilities without being suspicious. Well, at the graveyard Harry stalled Voldemort until we could apparate there. We mobilized all of our high ranking magical agents and took out all of the remaining free Death Eaters. Those are the missing members of the Wizengamot and the Ministry."

Hermione was shocked. The MI6 had worked against You-Know-Who and nobody at the Ministry knew about it.

"By now, Voldemort is dead. And this time he won't come back, we made sure of it. The details are classified. But it was Harry who managed to hold his own against him and that was the main reason we trained him. So that he would have a chance to survive that fight. We didn't expect everything working out that well when we recruited Harry. But by now he has done many missions for us and is on his way to the top. He is the best agent we have in his age group. And he knows the risks of the job."

"He knows he could die and is doing it anyway." She whispered.

"Yes. To spare others suffering and pain, he is willing to fight. He knows loss and wants to spare others having to grow up an unloved orphan. That's why he is training relentlessly. He has already taken his A-levels with high marks, he could have taken NEWTs already but to keep his cover he doesn't. He will graduate Hogwarts with top marks.

"You may have noticed that since his fifth year he has been working on changing the school. That was one of his main duties. If the children of the wizarding world learn to tolerate each other regardless of blood status, things will change with time. We have some operatives working at the Ministry, but his example will lead the future generations and hopefully will prevent another dark lord from rising."

Hermione pondered over the new information. She thought about the things Harry had told them while they were at Hogwarts. She thought about the arguments he had had with the headmaster. Something had happened to make him lose trust in Dumbledore after his first year and she was now pretty sure it was connected to the MI6. She then thought about him telling them that he had left the Dursleys for good.

"So you were the ones who helped him leave his relatives' house. How did you do that without alerting the headmaster?" She asked.

"Oh, that was easy. Dumbledore had built wards based on Lily Potter's blood that would protect Harry from outside attacks. We just didn't see the wisdom in letting him stay in an abusive environment. So we used one of our techno-magical devices, a so-called blood golem, infused it with blood of Petunia Dursley and placed it in Harry's new home. The wards were shifted to the new home, as they are built to hold, as long as Harry calls the place where his mother's blood lives home."

"But how would you get his aunt to cooperate? From what he told us in first year, they didn't like each other" she wanted to know.

"Nicked it. And tricked her to sign guardianship in the muggle world over to his godfather."

"But isn't Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, a wanted criminal?" She wondered.

"He was never convicted as he never even had a trial. He is working for us as well. The whole uproar about his escape was just an accident. We never thought an earthquake in North Sea would destroy the golem that had been in his place for twelve years. Those golems are really great." Lionel said.

It was a bit strange to talk about himself in third person, but Hermione couldn't know that Sirius Black and Lionel Morane were one and the same. The identities of the 00 agents were protected at all costs.

"So that is the reason nobody in the muggle world was informed about him, I had wondered about it, but Harry managed to alleviate my concerns at the time. But couldn't you prove his innocence so he could return to the wizarding world?" She asked.

"We could, we have the true culprit in prison, but there wouldn't be any benefit in it. It would just start an enormous amount of publicity and that is something a secret agent doesn't need. Why would we want to destroy a perfect cover? Sirius Black is thought to have fled to overseas; therefore the British Ministry of Magic isn't in charge of his chase anymore because they have no authority in other countries. They have no recent pictures of Black, so recognizing him is difficult for the normal witch or wizard. We could clear him if it would become necessary, we have Pettigrew, but as long as it isn't needed, we won't attract the media spectacle. Harry is special in that regard, but he can't just shed his fame. So the better idea is to train him to use it for the safety of the country."

Hermione could intellectually understand that, even if her sense of justice protested.

"Hermione, you just have to accept it as it's." Her mother said gently.

"Mum, I just have problems with taking all of this in at once. And it hurts a bit that Harry would keep such a secret from me. I know he couldn't tell me, but that doesn't mean it hurts less." She said.

"That's one of the sacrifices secret agents are making. We can't confide in anybody outside the MI6. Not even our best friends. Only one other person at Hogwarts knows about Harry's profession and that is because that person is Harry's back-up and local superior." Lionel said.

"I guess that part is also confidential." She said.

"Yes."

"How long will it take for Harry to recover?" She asked.

"Perhaps a week. Once the bullets are out of his body, the healers can close the wounds up and after three days of bed rest, he should be able to walk around again. I think this won't influence any of the other planned missions for him."

"More missions?" She asked worried.

"Yes, but none of them should have the kind of potential danger as the last one. And normally Harry wouldn't have been as endangered as he was, the five hostage takers that appeared shortly before you all escaped were just bad luck, which he managed to deal with well enough."

"Can you tell me when he took his first mission?" Emma asked.

"With thirteen. Just observation of a meeting of a drug dealer with underlings in a mall. But he did very well on that mission. He is good."

"Why would the MI6 use children as spies?" Emma asked revolted.

Training children up to be agents was one thing, especially somebody like Harry who was a target for a terrorist, but sending thirteen year olds on missions was a bit much in her book.

"Because the other side uses them as well. Sometimes you need to get somebody absolutely unsuspicious into places that are dangerous. And how else would he have got experience in relatively safe missions? The one he did at thirteen was in a mall where he observed the exchange of money and drugs, made photos with hidden cameras and recorded a conversation. Nothing more. Our opponents try to destabilize the country, sometimes the world. The public doesn't know this because we deal with it before it becomes a problem. If it weren't for institutions like us, the world would see many more wars than we have now. Normally teenage agents aren't involved in high class missions, but sometimes it just happens. This mission was high class, but Harry is an adult since his seventeenth birthday. And we needed somebody close to Miriam Reinold in age that could protect her. He was the only one skilled enough to do it."

"Miriam was a target?" Hermione gasped.

"Of another group. Somehow the hostage takers took out the group we had expected. They were after the money those high class guests promised, if they blackmailed their families, employers or country with. Except for Harry's injuries the mission was a complete success."

"Lionel, can you tell us about the next things that are going to happen?" Daniel asked.

"Well, the press will just report that a special unit was successful in liberating the hostages. No names and institutions will be named. Federal Chancellor Kohl has been briefed by the German agents and is covering the operation up. We'll return to London in two days after Harry is stable for transport." Lionel explained.

* * *

Hermione was deep in thought. She had been allowed to speak with Harry briefly after he woke up. He had been well enough to assure her that he would be fine in a few days and that this injury wouldn't keep him down for long. He even joked that he now had a week of paid vacation, even if the food at the hospital wasn't that great.

She couldn't understand how he could deal with his job so casually. Didn't he care for his safety? For the feelings of the people close to him if he died? She snorted. Probably it was a part of his saving people thing that she had noticed in her best friend. First year it was him going after the stone, second year he had saved Ginny, third year, well that was the destruction of Umbridge to help Professor Lupin, fourth year, from what she had been told he was part of a mission to finally get rid of Voldemort, fifth year he was protecting Julia and he probably had done something else in sixth year.

Not to forget his secret missions. It was hard to wrap her mind around the thought. Harry Potter, her best friend was a secret agent of the likes of James Bond, who she had been informed, really had existed and was now the name of whatever agent got the position of 007. It was just so much to take in. Then it knocked at her door.

"Come in." She called.

Her mother opened the door, came into the room and closed it behind her.

"Hey, sweetie, how are you?" She asked.

"Confused as hell, Mum." She admitted.

"I understand you. Believe me; it was very hard in the beginning after your father confessed to me what he did for a living."

"How do you deal with it? I mean it probably is easier as Dad is just working in research but it still is hard to keep everything a secret." Hermione asked.

"I think about the consequences if he didn't work for the MI6." Emma answered.

"Huh?" Hermione asked not understanding.

"Think back to your time at Hogwarts you told me about. What do you think would have happened if Harry hadn't been trained by the MI6?"

Hermione thought hard. She recalled the things that had happened over the years.

"In second year, he would have probably been injured by the basilisk or even killed." She realized. "In third year, Umbridge would have made life hell for Professor Lupin if Harry hadn't destroyed her career in front of all the students in the Great Hall. And for the other werewolves in Great Britain. I'm now sure he was trained in speech so he could pull that off. If he hadn't been trained he would have had a really hard time in the Tournament against opponents who would have had three years more training than him. And the fight Agent Morane told us about against You-Know-Who wouldn't have gone that well, as Harry would have been on his own."

"I see you understand it now. But call him Voldemort, always use the proper name for something; otherwise you give power to an oppressor. He would have been able to start a new war in the wizarding world. And yes, I know what happened before he was stopped by Harry as a baby. You don't get to be the wife of a member of the MI6, without knowing the overall events in the world that involve your husband. You don't remember the time as you were too young, but the war had consequences for the non-magical world too. People died mysteriously or disappeared. Your father was working overtime to help find methods to protect the civilian population.

"Now think, if your father didn't do his best to find those solutions, what would have happened with the people he managed to protect? He is a master chemist; a lot of his inventions were medical innovations. Without them, people would have died or been crippled. Without the agents that took out Death Eaters that were on raids, other people would have died. The MI6 is the shield against the worst threats that are out there, intent to harm our country. If the agents wouldn't take care of them, who would? The police? They aren't trained for that. The army? They are too noticeable. The aurors? The Ministry of Magic is a joke these days and Amelia Bones has a lot to change before they could take care of a threat like the Death Eaters properly."

Hermione nodded. She really understood now. While it was hard to see her best friend doing this dangerous job, somebody had to do it. And he had the power and the knowledge to help others.

"Thanks Mum. It will take some time to get used to it, but I'll cope. I just wish I could help him. I always had his back, but now I feel he is so far out of my reach." She sighed.

"Who said you couldn't?" Her mother asked.

Hermione looked at her questioningly.

"Well, you're smart, you're a hard worker and you know about technology and magic. The MI6 doesn't only consist of agents as you know. There are a lot of scientists and researchers here as well. You aren't a warrior, Hermione, but you could be one hell of a scientist. Be it magical or non-magical. The MI6 is always interested to hire highly talented witches and wizards for those positions. Many muggleborns started to work here as the wizarding world discriminated against them."

Emma smiled at her daughter. She had known about the problems Hermione would have after graduation because of the pureblood supremacy politics at the Ministry. She knew things were changing but she would feel a lot better if her daughter found a position in the non-magical world where she could use both sides of her heritage. And being a scientist for the MI6 paid well, she knew what Daniel earned. And she had a suspicion that her daughter had a little crush on her raven haired friend.

"I'll think about it, Mum." Hermione said.

"That's all I can ask."

Emma left the room so that Hermione could think about what she wanted to do.

* * *

Harry was currently dodging at fast speeds. He had been cleared from the hospital two days ago and Sirius was convinced he had to up his training so he wouldn't be hurt like he had been on the last mission again. While he had been outnumbered and at a disadvantage because he had to cover the escape of the hostages, next time he was in such a situation, Sirius wanted to be sure Harry would get out of it better. He had also planned some sessions of healing under pain without making it look like magic. Extraction of bullets being top of his list of spells and normal techniques.

So now Sirius and Harry were in one of the training rooms, Sirius using a gun that shot hard rubber balls, which hurt when they hit but didn't do much damage besides bruises. It was a very effective training method. Harry knew the dangers if the bullets were real, so he did his best to avoid them.

* * *

Hermione and her father sat in the room next to the training room where Harry was trained by 008. Hermione was impressed by the level of skill Harry displayed.

"Dad, why is it that Harry is being trained by a 00 agent?" She asked.

"Lionel has taken an interest in Harry's training some time ago. Harry is one of the best upcoming agents and a top candidate to get one of the 00 spots when he is older. But those spots include an extremely high level of skills." Daniel answered.

Hermione had been accepted for an internship with the development department as she was the daughter of one of the current scientists. She had also sworn an oath to never reveal anything she learned at MI6.

The door opened and M, the leader of the department entered.

"Good morning, D, Hermione." She greeted.

"Good morning, ma'am." Hermione replied.

"Good morning, M." Daniel said.

"How long have they already been at it?" M asked pointing at the glass between the training room and the observation room?

"One hour, forty nine minutes, twenty eight seconds." Daniel answered.

"Good time for him being out of the hospital for two days." M commented. "It doesn't seem that 008 has that much success hitting Agent Potter."

"Two times so far." Daniel reported.

"Where?" M asked.

"Both grazing shots. One his left thigh, one his right ear."

"When?"

"Thigh after fifty two minutes, ear after one hour and twenty seven minutes." Was the answer.

Hermione was keeping quiet. This was after all the leader of the MI6. And she didn't know much about the way things worked here. So she observed and learned.

"That's good enough. Call them out after the two hour mark if they don't stop themselves by then. I have a mission for Agent Potter."

"Of course, ma'am." Daniel answered.

M nodded towards Hermione and left the room.

"Wow, is she always like that?" Hermione asked being strangely reminded of her Transfiguration teacher.

"That's M for you. She has taken over the top spot two years ago for the former M, who had served many decades. And she is good at her position."

"I see. What is the main reason we have been watching Harry train?" Hermione asked.

"Improvement of the weapons and the armour the agents wear for missions. From watching Harry dodging we know which movements have to be possible for them. We need to develop new materials for them to wear constantly as the other side isn't sleeping. Our computers will be fed with the data from this training exercise and my team will then work on finding new ways to equip the agents the best way. And I can proudly say, Great Britain is one of the leading nations in equipping their secret agents. That is mainly due to us making much money with the Bond movies to finance our research. And there is no way we could give out dragon hide vests to all our agents as dragons are endangered. There simply aren't enough dragons. So we take materials that have the qualities we are looking for and try to duplicate them by scientific means."

"I understand."

They waited until the timer hit two hours. Both men were still going strong in the training room. Daniel hit the speak button on the intercom.

"Lionel. The training is finished for Harry. M wants him in her office after he has cleaned up for a new mission." He told them.

Lionel stopped shooting and nodded towards Harry. Harry wiped the sweat from his forehead and left the room walking towards the shower.

* * *

Harry sat in an armchair in M's office in a dark blue suit with a white button up shirt and a tie matching the colour of his suit. He had learned that you looked professional each time you were called into your superior's office. And M normally only gave the high class agents missions in one-on-one briefings.

"I assume you're wondering why I asked you to come here, Agent Potter." M asked.

"Yes, ma'am. Normally I get briefed by another agent for a mission or you give them to the whole group which is tasked with it." Harry politely answered.

"You're correct. Normally that would be the case. But there are two things that are different for this mission. First, your status has been changed. Congratulations, Agent Potter, to being considered an official high class agent." She said.

Harry first was stunned, then he smiled happily.

"Thank you, ma'am, I won't disappoint your trust in me." He said.

"I know you won't, your record is impressive for a man as young as you are, Agent Potter. The next part is the mission. While you won't go solo, this mission is special. It's high class and normally we would send one of the 00 agents. There is just one little problem that prevents us from doing so."

She made a dramatic pause. Harry was on edge. He knew he was good, but not good enough for a 00 mission. What the hell was M thinking?

"For this mission we need an infiltration expert who can get out of any location. And he can't be older than twenty as the only source of information we can get close to, is the eighteen year old daughter of the target."

M pushed a photo of a pretty dark haired girl over to Harry. He took it and committed her looks to memory.

"This is Stefania Estrago, the daughter of Italian Mafia boss Giovanni Estrago. She just turned eighteen and all of the Italian high society is invited for the celebration. The girl is known to go through men in a similar fashion to 007 does with women. So it won't be difficult for you to get close to her. Your mission is to seduce the girl, find out the location of her father's headquarters and return with the information to us. From there on 007 will take over for you, with you providing back-up for him. He will attend the party for the adult acquaintances and important business partners of Estrago and distract Giovanni Estrago from your actions."

"Wouldn't it be a bit obvious if 007 openly attended a party of a Mafiosi?" Harry asked.

After all James Bond was the most well-known name of an MI6 agent around the world.

"That's our intention. First, everybody thinks that we only exist in fiction, so anybody with the name James Bond will arouse suspicion for a moment but then they will dismiss it as ridiculous. All the James Bonds of the past used that to their advantage. Bond will instruct you how to best approach the girl. Listen to his advice as he is one of the best in that area of expertise."

Harry didn't fear he would have any problems with seducing the girl once he had made contact. After all, he had grown up with Sirius Black, a womanizer like few others. And he had already made certain experiences during earlier missions. But this would be his first high class mission that included seduction.

"Of course, ma'am." He answered.

"You're leaving tomorrow morning at 6:45 from Heathrow Airport. Be there an hour before the plane leaves."

"Understood, ma'am." He replied.

M took a folder out of the drawer of her desk. She handed it over to him.

"That is all the information we have on the mafia activities Giovanni Estrago is involved in, the CV of Stefania Estrago, her closest friends and so on. Further the parameters of the mission. Commit them to memory immediately. You may leave, Agent Potter, good luck for your mission." M dismissed him.

"Thank you, ma'am."

Harry stood up and left the room.

* * *

**And done. The mission that comes up is the reason I put the lemon warning into the description. I will have to see how detailed I can let it be with the rules of the site. Till then.**


	19. Mission to Italy with 007

**Here is the next chapter, thanks to all those that left reviews and advise how to go about the lemon problem. I will work on the next chapter to make sure it won't be too heavy. Now happy reading.**

* * *

**Mission to Italy with 007**

Once Harry returned to the training room, Sirius look at him questioningly. He had showered and changed into a fresh all-black training attire consisting of sweat pants and t-shirt.

"I'll be absent for two weeks or so. Mission in Italy." He informed his godfather.

"Level?" Sirius asked.

"High class. I have officially been promoted to high class agent. I bet I broke every record." Harry said proudly.

"Congratulations, Harry. Are you allowed to tell me what the mission includes?" Sirius asked.

"Sure, you have the clearance. Let's go home and get my suitcase packed. Then I'll tell you."

Sirius nodded and followed Harry to the apparition rooms. They both spun on the spot and vanished without a sound. They soon reappeared at Grimmauld Place. Harry walked up to his room and took his suitcase from the top of his wardrobe.

"The mission I have is to gather information about the headquarters of an Italian Mafia boss. The daughter of said boss has just turned eighteen and is celebrating her birthday this weekend with all members of high-society attending. I have been tasked to use any means necessary, meaning mostly seduction, to find the location and give the information to 007 who will be taking over and probably destroy it. I'll provide back-up for 007 after I managed to gain the information." Harry reported.

"Pretty early for you to be sent on a 00 mission." Sirius commented with a frown.

"The only reason I'm doing this mission is that we are in need of a young high class agent with specialization in infiltration. With the target being only eighteen, the agent can't be much older than twenty. And I'm seventeen and the best in the age group compatible with the mission parameters."

"True. Just keep your eyes open and don't be hasty. I don't want to read your epitaph because you were careless." Sirius said seriously his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Don't worry. I know the risks involved in the job. I have trained hard for this. With acknowledging me as a high class agent, M officially announced that my normal and advanced training as a secret agent is finished. I'll have to gain experience through missions. Don't worry, I'll come back." Harry tried to ease the worries of his godfather.

"Alright, I know you have trained and are prepared. Do you have a plan how to make contact with the girl?" He asked.

"Yes, depending on the groups the guests will belong to, I intend to either use my title, I did inherit the lordship of my father after all, or if I manage to get close to her without that, use my natural charm to make her want me. From the information I got during the briefing, Stefania Estrago is a collector of attractive men. As she has never met me before, she will normally be interested in me. You know that I attract a lot of female attention with my looks." Harry reminded Sirius of the effects that simply lying on the beach had got during their past vacations.

Harry had had the choice between many really attractive girls. Something he had enjoyed a lot. There was a reason that he had lost his virginity early on. Not that Sirius had complained about his godson being a lady killer. He was damn proud of that.

"Yeah, I can't deny that. I taught you well after all." He joked.

"True. The womanizer Sirius Black never lost any of his charm on women. By the way, whose account of seduced women on a mission is higher now? Yours or James'?" Harry asked interested.

"Why do you ask?" Sirius asked surprised.

"Well, there might be a pool at headquarters on the outcome. As you and James have similar techniques on missions and tend to make women fall for you, we thought it would be a good opportunity to bet who had the higher head count." Harry said grinning.

"Don't you let M hear that her agents are betting on something like that." Sirius said groaning.

"Don't worry, M has placed her own bet. I think she placed it on James, but I could be wrong." Harry pondered.

"M betting? Don't pull my leg, Harry. And I don't know who has the higher head count. I just know we both are pretty good at our jobs."

"Nope, not pulling your leg, dear godfather." Harry said grinning, closing his suitcase, which he had packed while talking with Sirius.

Sirius shook his head. He would never have thought that M, the stern leader of MI6 would take part in that sort of bet.

"Don't fret about M behaving strange. I know for a fact that McGonagall also is participating in a betting pool about me. They think I don't know that teachers and students alike are betting on which girl I'll ask to the graduation ball at the end of this year. They were a bit disgruntled as I showed up with Buffy to Slughorn's Christmas party in fifth year. Nobody had bet on an outsider but Luna. And she was my accomplice to get the pool. We shared the winnings fairly by the way."

"You're evil to use the innocent betting of your schoolmates and teachers for your personal gain." Sirius said grinning proudly.

"Can't deny it. Are you ready to return to headquarters so I can get my new equipment from R?" Harry asked.

Sirius nodded. He knew that Harry was anxious for his new tools. He understood, it was the same for him.

"I'm curious what gimmicks he will give me this time. It's too bad that James will get the car." Harry complained a bit.

"You'll have to wait for 00 status to get a car for your missions." Sirius teased him.

"You just wait, it will happen sooner than you think." Harry teased back.

"Sure, whatever lets you sleep at night." Sirius gave back.

Both turned on the spot and disapparated.

* * *

In the development department Hermione was just briefed by R in the process of equipping the high class agents with their equipment for missions.

"You see, Hermione, every agent is different. Most of the agents appreciate the tools we develop for them to fulfil their missions easier. But there are also those who are careless about their equipment. I know that you have grown up watching the James Bond movies we produce to have plausible deniability. After all, who would think we would show our equipment that openly? If anybody gets curious they just assume we are producing a new movie." R explained.

"So all the movies were based on real missions? All the villains really existed?" She asked disbelievingly.

"That they did. Dr. No, Goldfinger, Kamal Khan, only to name a few. Of course we adjusted some names a bit, but mostly we used the real ones. After all, the Russians wouldn't have admitted that our agents were able to thwart their plans or that we managed to infiltrate the USSR successfully. And to be honest, nobody would believe them if they told anybody that all the movies are based on true stories. In all the years that we have produced movies we only really invented four or so. Moonraker was pure imagination for example." R confirmed.

"Okay, is it really true that James Bond regularly demolishes the car he gets?" She wanted to know.

She had always wondered about that. It didn't make sense to her that an agent would always destroy the car on a mission. Of course so far she had only thought it was a quirk of the fictional figure James Bond to drive Q mad.

"Sadly yes. Thankfully the movies bring in enough money so we can easily afford the cars. And we get to test the newest technology regularly. Come here, I can show you the newest car we have developed." R said enthusiastically.

Hermione silently rolled her eyes, men and cars. That was similarly embarrassing as men and broomsticks in the wizarding world. At least this one would be stuffed with high class technology that a spy would find useful.

"This beauty is our newest accomplishment. Standardly there are missile launchers, stealth features, bullet proof glass, scanners for any climate and light conditions, some extendable weapons and many more. Actually 007 and his partner for the next mission are scheduled to collect their equipment in a few minutes." He said, looking at his watch to confirm the time.

"So you get informed about a new mission and prepare the equipment for the agent, depending on the mission?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Of course we don't get to know the details of the mission, but M sends a file with the specifications for us. You get used to it with growing experience." R explained. "My predecessor Q swore that most of his grey hairs were the fault of one Bond or the other. But I swear the new Lionel Morane is competing with the current James Bond for the spot."

"Thank you for the compliment." They heard the voice of Lionel Morane.

Both turned towards the voice and saw three men standing in the entrance of the lab. Hermione recognized Harry and Lionel Morane, which meant the third man had to be James Bond.

"Exactly on time, Mr Bond." R stated. "Mr Morane, what are you doing here? I had only expected Agents Bond and Potter for the collection of the mission's equipment."

Hermione paused. Harry was going on a mission with James Bond? Why? He was just seventeen years old. She wanted to ask, but then remembered that the details of missions were classified and she didn't have the clearance for the high class missions. She was lucky to be allowed to watch the equipment being handed over at all.

"All right, I have been informed about your parts in the mission. Agent Potter, you get the standard disguised recording devices. The chips have a memory capacity of 4 GB. That should be enough for two days of constant recording. But I don't think even you have that much stamina." R commented.

"Stamina?" Hermione inquired.

"Sorry, I can't tell you, Hermione. You don't have the clearance for this." Harry deflected the question.

The grins Bond and Morane were exchanging didn't go well with her imagination. She thought they were perverted. But why…? No, they wouldn't send Harry on a mission where he had to sleep with a woman, would they? For some reason that thought didn't sit right with her. She knew that Harry had had a lot of girlfriends, but outright seduction didn't seem like him. But then again, the image she had had of her best friend had been turned over massively in the last week.

R just nodded and continued.

"I also have prepared your preferred gun for you. The Walter P99. The same goes for you Agent Bond."

Both men nodded.

"Now, as you won't be able to keep the gun on you during the party, considering the mission specifics, I have come up with two alternatives Agent Potter. One is a feature of your watch…" He presented a silver watch to the assembled agents.

"The watch has the normal functions like water proof, recording and camera, a low powered laser for getting rid of ropes and newly added, tranquilizer darts. The glass can be raised and then serves as an aiming device."

"Nice. Definitely useful." Harry commented and put the watch on his left wrist.

"Yes, the second one is for more permanent effects. Sticking bombs in form of mints. You put a bit of saliva on them and have twenty seconds to get away. They have a reach of five meters around the spot you place them. Deadly within two meters, out of that range, severe injuries."

Hermione wondered how R was able to talk about killing people so nonchalantly. And why was Harry getting deadly equipment? Only the 00 agents had the permission to kill.

"So M got you temporary clearance in case you need to eliminate an opponent." Lionel stated.

"Obviously. Otherwise he wouldn't get lethal weapons in form of bombs. But I'm happy that he also prefers my favourite gun, Lionel." James said smugly.

"Sorry to pop your bubble, James, but 80 % of our agents use the Walter P99. That doesn't say anything." Lionel retorted.

Hermione looked at the two bickering agents in wonder.

"Don't worry. Lionel and James have something close to a rivalry going on. They bicker about which one's example of them I'm following. Problem is, they are so similar, it's hard to say." Harry explained.

"They are trying to make you a 00 agent? But you're just seventeen." She protested.

"And? Every agent has to go through rigorous training before he is promoted to 00 status and only the best will be chosen. I intend to get there one day." Harry said with conviction in his voice.

Hermione was baffled. She had never seen her best friend that determined, not even in the Triwizard Tournament. Which now made more sense than before. He had been trained intensively two years prior to that point so he hadn't been as disadvantaged as they had all thought he was.

"Just be careful." She finally said.

"Always, Hermione. I know the risks and when to take them." He assured her.

Then he turned to the two bickering agents his hands on his hips.

"James, Lionel, I think we have to finish the equipping. Could you please stop behaving like little children?" He asked humorously.

The two 00 agents looked sheepish. It didn't happen often that they behaved like that.

"Okay, sorry, Harry." Lionel said.

Harry just shook his head. He knew that both agents were friends and he was glad that Sirius had someone to behave normally with. The job was stressful enough as it was. And their friendly rivalry on missions made them the two top agents the MI6 had. Harry still had a long way to go until he could hope to compare to them.

"Last but not least, here are some of our standard drugs. Sleeping pellets, V-Drug and an antidote against the V-Drug. Okay, Agent Bond, you'll get similar equipment to Agent Potter's but additionally we have prepared a new car for you." R glared at Bond knowing the chances he wouldn't see the car again. "And I'd really appreciate if you brought it back this time."

"I'll try." James said.

Everybody knew the chances of the car for survival were pretty slim. After the handing out of the equipment was done, Harry, James and Lionel left the laboratory.

"I'd never have thought my best friend was already taking that kind of missions." Hermione said to R.

"It's really rare for an agent of Agent Potter's age to be involved in high class missions but Potter is special. Not for his magical abilities, I have seen how hard he works on his skills. When he started, the former M thought he would be ready to take high class missions once he turned twenty. But here he is, doing them at seventeen. And it only took this long for him to get the status as he had to lose the trace first, in case he needs to use his abilities in an emergency. Otherwise he was ready a year ago."

"How come we never noticed anything?" Hermione questioned her own observational abilities.

"He is trained to appear normal for those not used to his kind of work. We were lucky in a way the teacher in your fourth year wasn't really Alastor Moody. The real Moody would have realized something was different with Potter." R explained.

Hermione nodded.

"Okay, now that the agents have their equipment, what kind of specialties would be most beneficial for me to pursue?" She asked.

R smiled and began launching into an extensive explanation of their different research departments.

* * *

Harry and James landed at the airport of Pescara at half past ten. They had had a short stop in Rome to change planes and then flew over to the Village at the coast of the Adriatic Sea. They went through the customs and James took them to their hotel. Their rooms were on the same floor but on opposite ends.

"Okay, go and set up your room, then come over for the planning of the party."

"Alright, Uncle James. I'm pretty excited about the party." Harry answered.

Following their cover, Harry was posing as James' nephew.

"I'd be surprised if you weren't. It's the most exclusive party of the year. You're lucky I let you come with me." James replied.

"Yeah, I am. You really suck at …" Harry started saying before James clapped his hand over Harry's mouth.

"Not one word." He growled.

Harry cheekily grinned but nodded. He went for his room and went inside.

As soon as he was inside he checked the room for hidden cameras, recorders or listening devices. He was glad to not find any. Harry put his suitcase on his bed and started unpacking the clothes and toiletries. The party would be tomorrow evening. Today they would do some surveillance from the beach. Their informants had given them the tip that Stefania Estrago loved to tan on the beach below the villa of her father.

Not so coincidentally it was the same beach the hotel they were staying at was connected to. The hotel was one of the covert businesses of Giovanni Estrago. The simple reason for Stefania's habit was that the hotel catered to many sports teams for their training camps. Therefore the younger athletes were some of her preferred targets. Once Harry was finished with unpacking, he took his key and went over to James' room. He knocked at the door and was let inside.

"Everything clean. Now let's talk about your job, Harry." James said business like.

Harry nodded.

"We'll spend today and tomorrow afternoon at the beach. You'll show off at some games of beach volleyball, wind-surfing and whatever you like even before you see the target. She is known to regularly 'hunt' at the beach and our informant has given us notice that she just ditched her last lover. Make her interested without being obvious. You can bet that there will be other men trying to get into the good graces of Stefania Estrago to gain favours with her father. It won't work, she is known to drop a man once she loses interest in him, but they still try. Important for you to remember is, she has to take interest in you. Find out her preferences. We couldn't point them down, because there is no reliable method how she chooses her lover, except that they have to look really good."

"No problem. Personality assessment is one of my strengths." Harry said.

"That's why you were chosen for the job, Harry. You can assess the perfect method of approach within a few minutes while the other agents in the age-group suitable for this mission need more time. Now, you have had intensive seduction training with 003. You remember how you have to court a woman and how to get her to drop her guard around you. It will be easier as your target is known to take lovers on a regular basis, but you have to show her you're worth her time. She is a rich heiress, she can choose who she wants and she is used to get it. Make her work for you. That will distinguish you from the others that try to gain her favour." James advised.

Harry nodded. That meant the nice guy but not a man-whore approach.

"How do you intend to get the information from her?" James asked.

"As my job is to get her into my bed to interrogate her, I intend to use a mix of my charm, alcohol and a small dose of the V-Drug. I'll also make her feel so good, that she won't think anything strange about me asking some questions."

"So you're up for a long night?" James asked.

"Yes. Don't worry, I know how to please a woman in bed. While I don't have the experience you or Lionel have, I'm no rookie."

That much was true. Harry was known to love the women at Hogwarts. But they still came for him because every of his short-time girlfriends had reported just how kind he was to them and what a great lover he was. Not that Harry minded at all. He knew he couldn't have a constant relationship in his job, but short adventures were okay as long as he treated the girl like a gentleman. All of them had offered him to sleep with them and which man would refuse if the most beautiful girls at Hogwarts offered something like that?

"Good. How will you get the drug inside? You don't know if she will want to sleep with you in her room or if she will follow you to your hotel room."

"I have two ways. The first is in form of mints. They are laced with a small dose of the V-Drug. Either I offer some to her or get it into her by french-kissing her. I have the antidote with me and will take it before I go to the party. The second way is if she wants to have a drink. In that case it will be easy to mix the drug into her drink. With the drug being tasteless she will never know."

"Good. Both plans will work for you. Have you memorized the blue prints of the villa?"

"Of course. In case I need to escape I know all the routes out of the building. And I can apparate if everything else fails."

"Yeah, one advantage you wizards have."

"You know I don't need my abilities often. I want to prove I'm as good as any other agent and that those abilities are my ace in the hole." Harry stated.

James smiled at that. There was a reason Harry and Lionel were so popular at the MI6. They didn't just rely on their magic; they worked as hard and harder as their non-magical counterparts.

* * *

**Okay, this was the overture, the main part follows next time. Till then.**


	20. The Naughty Princess of Pescara

**Hi, here is the next chapter. In this chapter there will be lemon! So anybody under eighteen should heed the warning. I have marked the start of the lemon in the story so those who don't want to read it can simply jump ahead.**

**Happy reading.**

* * *

**The Naughty Princess of Pescara**

Harry was showing off on his board in the waves of the Adriatic Sea. While they were nothing special compared to the waves of the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, they were great to have some fun in the waves. He knew that his target was probably watching from the beach, their contact in Pescara, Gino Marciolli, had confirmed the plans of Stefania Estrago to 'scout the selection of goods' on the beach. With other words, she had finished her last lover and was looking for some new entertainment. When the last wave carried him back to the beach, Harry heard multiple clapping from some really beautiful girls.

He smiled charmingly and waved at them, getting some squeals from a few girls. The summer break was still on in many nations and the sports teams of different schools were having training camps here at the beach. He knew of a mixed swimming team from Austria and the male and female volleyball teams from a boarding school in Germany. He took his board under his arm and carried it back to his towel and beach bag. He took another towel from the bag and dried his upper body and hair. He could hear sighs of content from some girls and women, which he gracefully ignored. He took out his bottle of sun cream and began rubbing it onto his skin. He could hear some comments of girls how much they wanted to be the ones to apply the cream on him. When he was sure he had put it everywhere, he took sunglasses out of his bag, put them onto his nose and lay back, tanning in the sun.

* * *

Stefania Estrago had been bored in her father's villa. While tomorrow was her party for coming of age, there was not much she had to do. The organization of the party was taken care of by the servants and she only had to tell them the overall topic she wanted to have. So she had decided that she needed some distraction. And what better kind of distraction was there than scouting new potential lovers on the beach? Her last lover had been a real disappointment. He didn't have much stamina in bed. And he was completely unimaginative. She had her standards and Luigi hadn't met them, so she had dropped him after one night. No, for her birthday she wanted someone special.

All her lovers had been extremely handsome, that was the basic requirement, but this time she would find somebody mysterious. And he had to have stamina, so an athlete would do nicely. Thankfully there were many examples of fine male flesh populating the beach. She inspected a blond man, perhaps twenty years or so who was playing beach volleyball. He had a very nice chest and strong muscled arms. His only flaw was he had another blond bimbo on his arms already. While she had no problems to steal men from other women, it took some time and today she didn't want to invest that much work.

She let her eyes roam farther. There were some others, but most of them were too young for her or didn't pass her primary scans. And she had enough experience to discard men after said primary scan. She was Stefania Estrago and she had standards. She only took the best. Then she heard cheers coming from a part of the beach some distance left from her. She decided to find out what the cheers were for. She soon found out that they came from a group of girls and women who watched a surfer showing tricks in the waves. That was interesting. She knew that there wasn't a surfing group staying at the hotel. The waves weren't big enough for them to come here which was bad luck as surfers were interesting to play with.

"Ricardo, give me my binoculars." She ordered one of her guards.

She was handed the required item and used the binoculars to get a better look on the surfer. What she saw interested her immensely. It was a young man, with a body like Adonis. He was controlling his board with ease rarely seen in this part of the world. The man had black hair and was muscular but not overly so. From this distance it looked like perfectly proportioned to her.

"Does anybody know anything about that surfer out there?" She asked her guards.

"No, Miss Estrago, he must be a tourist. Do you wish for us to find out more about him?" Fernando Dianno asked.

"No, I think I'll do that myself." She decided licking her lips.

It was time for a new conquest. She closed in on her prey and waited until he was lying on his towel to tan. She just hoped this fine specimen spoke Italian. Otherwise she had two other languages to try.

"Excuse me, would you mind, if I asked you a few questions?" She asked friendly.

He lifted his sunglasses and she looked into stunning emerald green eyes. She just had to have him.

"Hm, of course, I'd never deny such a beautiful woman a few answers." He replied smiling and sat up.

She smiled back and displayed her well-toned, curvy body, especially her perfectly shaped breasts, for him.

"I couldn't prevent admiring your skill on the board. Where did you learn it?" She asked.

"Oh, mostly during my last vacation on Hawaii. My uncle took me there when he went on a business trip. While the waves here aren't as big as at the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, they are big enough to have a good time on the board. May I ask your name? I like to know who I'm talking to, especially if the person is a beautiful woman." He flirted.

"Only if you tell me yours in return." She cooed.

"I think that would be fair." He accepted.

"I'm Stefania Estrago, daughter of the owner of the Tipolita Hotel. And with whom do I have the pleasure?"

"My name is Harry James Potter, soon to be Duke of Gloucester. It's my pleasure." Harry answered, noticing the fire in her eyes. Obviously she was hooked.

"So, Harry, if I may be so daring to use your first name, what is a young English nobleman like you doing at a beach in Pescara?" She asked.

"No, I don't have a problem with you calling me Harry, Stefania." He answered smiling keeping her eyes caught with his. "Well, my uncle again had an important meeting, connected to his business and as I managed to beat him in an intense game of poker, I managed to get him to take me here too. I like the climate of Italy."

"You're speaking really good Italian; you just have a little accent." She praised.

"Thank you, I have somewhat of a talent for learning languages, much to the delight of my teachers. I'm fluent in Italian, German, French and Spanish. English I think I don't have to mention." He modestly told her.

Fernando and Ricardo had stepped away a short distance. They knew their Mistress was about to catch herself a new lover and they were not to interfere. This was hardly an uncommon occurrence after all.

"Oh, you're not only an athlete but also intelligent. Is there something you can't do?" She teased.

"Hm, I don't know if my ego would be able to take the blow from being mocked by you, Stefania, if I told you what I'm bad at." He pondered.

Stefania decided a bit more contact was in order. Men just couldn't withstand her if she touched the right spots on their bodies. And she had much experience in finding the right spots. So she crept closer on her knees to him. Her dark blue two piece bikini was displaying her assets nicely for him.

She took her right hand from the warm sand and softly touched his chest.

"Such muscles, Harry. You must work out regularly." She purred. "I just want to know a little weakness of such a seemingly perfect man, Harry. Please, can't you tell me? I won't tell anybody else." She gave him the puppy-dog eyes.

'She is really good at this. She knows how to draw a man in with her charms. She knows where the areas on my chest are that react most intensely from her erotic ministrations.' Harry analysed her actions.

"You know, this is really unfair." He told her with a slightly strained voice.

"No, I'm only using the weapons of a woman. I don't think you can really complain." She whispered into his ear, licking the earlobe in the process.

She now was hovering over him and lowered her bum down on his belly.

"Alright, I give up. My weakness is anything related to chemistry. I just can't seem to get a grasp of the reactions different chemicals have with each other and my teacher is not really helping. For some reason he doesn't like me." He admitted.

"Really, well, I think some kind of reward is in order for being so honest."

She lowered her body and kissed him intensely on the lips. Harry gladly returned her kiss.

"Wow, do you always reward guys for being honest this way?" Harry asked faking bedazzlement.

"Only those who I like and find interesting." She answered mysteriously, rolling her hips over his groin.

Harry now took his turn of playing with her, massaging some easily reachable points on her lower back that would increase her arousal.

"Oh, that feels good, Harry." She said with her eyes closed in delight.

'I have definitely chosen I good specimen this time.' She thought.

"I aim to please, Stefania. How about I show you the full scale of my abilities in massage?" he offered huskily.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Harry Potter?" She asked playing scandalized.

"Would you mind if I did, Stefania Estrago?" He rolled the r in her surname.

"Not a bit." She answered and began kissing him again, this time urging him to open his mouth, which he did and began a fight for dominance with his tongue. Harry refrained from completely dominating their fight; he just let her play for some time, giving her the feeling of a challenge. Harry turned her around to lie under him.

"Please turn around, so I can show you what I can really do with these hands." He told her.

She followed his request and turned onto her stomach. Harry took out a bottle of body oil and spread it over his hands.

"How come you have body oil with you at the beach?" Stefania asked.

"I think it helps containing the moisture in my skin. I like spending long periods of time at the beach. The oil helps to prevent sunburn in combination with the sun cream and helps with the effect of the salt water. But as you can see, it can be used for more than that." He explained grinning.

Stefania decided she would spend some time later massaging his body with the oil to have it make his skin shine when she took him. Then he started giving her a massage and she was melting away. He definitely had fantastic skill with his hands. She couldn't refrain from moaning slightly as he took care of some little knots in her shoulder muscles. He obviously was a player and took his time to caress each part of her skin he could reach. He let his hands glide up and down her arms, followed by her back and her sides. She wondered what those hands could do with her breasts.

He also took great care of her legs, starting with her feet. He had to have learned about pressure points, because he used them to make her feel really good. When his hands wandered up and down her thighs, she wanted to forget that they were at a populated beach and take him right here. He was no novice, that much was clear, he had no shame to grope her bum and give it a pleasurable experience.

"It's too bad we are not alone at this beach." He whispered in her ear.

"I share your resentment for this unfortunate situation." She agreed moaning again when he found a point on her lower back that sent shivers through her body. It was just not fair what he could make her feel with just a massage.

After more than half an hour Harry stopped massaging Stefania. The whole massage session had been interrupted several times by Stefania turning around and instigating heated making out sessions. Finally Ricardo reminded her that she had a meeting in half an hour and needed to shower and dress before that.

Stefania pouted then she grinned.

"It seems our fun has to end here for now, Harry."

"It's truly a shame, Stefania. I'd have loved to spend more time with you." Harry replied.

"Well, that can be arranged. Tomorrow I celebrate my eighteenth birthday. I want you to come to my party. You see the villa over there?" She pointed at her father's villa.

Harry nodded.

"Tomorrow at seven in the evening the party starts. Dress up to impress me, my Lord, and I'll guarantee you a night you'll never forget." She whispered in his ear.

"How could I resist such an invitation?" Harry flirted back. "I'll be there, Stefania." He promised, kissing her hand like a gentleman.

Stefania and her two bodyguards left for the villa and Harry decided to return to his hotel room. He had succeeded in his goal and even got a personal invitation from his target.

* * *

Harry took a shower and put on some fresh clothes. While he was here, he would use his time to look around in the town. And the surrounding countryside. He had already achieved his main goal for today, making contact with Stefania Estrago and he got a personal invitation for the party. Now he just needed to blend in with the other tourists. He got the keys for a leasing motorbike at the reception after signing the leasing contract and went down to the garage to get the bike. The leasing contract included a helmet, so Harry was ready to start his tour. He liked riding a bike, speed junky that he was. He took off to the Abruzzi, the nearby mountains, and had his bike speed over the narrow roads, taking in the landscape. When he reached the top of the closest hill, he stopped his bike at a cut-out and took binoculars out of the storing area of the bike.

He let his gaze wander over the coast, taking in the geographic specifics. He wasn't far away from Pescara and could identify several of the bigger buildings. His look around wasn't just a relaxing activity, the binoculars were also recording everything he saw. You never knew when information could come in handy. After fifteen minutes of watching the landscape his mobile rang. He looked at the display if he knew the number, but the number wasn't shown.

"Potter speaking." He said after taking the call.

"Harry, where are you?" He heard James' voice.

"In the Abruzzi, Uncle James. I leased a motorbike and took to exploring the mountains. Guess what, I met this sexy girl at the beach and she invited me to her birthday party tomorrow evening." He told his partner.

"Oh, nice to know. What's the girl's name?" James asked, knowing that calls via mobile could be easily overheard.

"Stefania Estrago. I'll tell you more about her when I come back. Was there anything you needed, Uncle?" Harry asked.

"I wanted to ask if you could get me a bottle of really good wine in the town. My business partner has invited me for tomorrow night for dinner. His daughter is celebrating her coming of age and he is having some members of the older generation over for a nice dinner while his villa is taken over by his daughter and her guests. I have the feeling your girl might be my business partner's daughter, so be nice to her."

"I'm always nice to beautiful women, you should know that." Harry said.

"Alright, Harry, remember the wine." James said and cut the connection.

Harry put his handy back into his pocket, just looking over the landscape now without the binoculars. When he was ready to mount his bike again and leave, he heard the motor of a sports car coming closer. Soon he saw a silver cabriolet speeding towards his position. The driver of the car was very familiar to him.

The car pulled away from the road and stopped next to his bike. Stefania Estrago exited the car, grinning predatorily at meeting her newest toy. It was really neat what a bit of influence in the right circles could get you. She had been bored at the meeting and was glad it had been over after only an hour. She had questioned the guy at the hotel reception about the room number and the current whereabouts of Harry Potter and had been told he had leased a motorbike to explore the Abruzzi. Well, she now knew where she could find him. So she ditched Fernando and Ricardo to find Harry and hopefully continue where they had left at the beach.

Her choice of clothing was evidence of her plans. She wore a short pink skirt that barely covered her bum over a very, very small black thong. Her top was a tight fitting neck holder in a lighter shade of pink than her skirt, which left her back completely exposed and showed of her cleavage. It was the kind of outfit that would be connected with a slut and she wasn't too proud to admit that was exactly what she wanted to let Harry think she was. She had forgone a bra and her nipples showed through the cloth of her top.

"Harry!" She greeted waving at him. "Such a lovely surprise to find you out here."

"Stefania. I can only say it's lovely to see you so soon. I feared I'd only get to see you tomorrow evening at your party. You look really sexy." Harry pretended to undress her with his eyes.

She was very easy on the eyes of a male, he had to admit it, without his training he would probably already do it. She knew how to cleverly use her female guile to achieve her aims. He knew this meeting wasn't a coincidence, she probably had asked for him at the hotel reception. Well, he would play her game. He needed to be sure she would be in the right mood to talk about the mafia headquarters tomorrow and if he fulfilled her desire today, it would be a lot easier. And he wouldn't deny he was looking forward to shag her.

"Oh, aren't you a naughty boy, Harry. But thank you for the compliment. I like appreciation for my efforts to look good." She laughed.

Harry soon was behind her, embracing her while breathing down her neck.

"I'm not so sure if I'm the only one who is naughty here, dear Stefania." He whispered while rubbing her toned stomach.

"Guilty as charged. I couldn't forget the magic you worked on me with your hands. I was really disappointed that we were unable to continue earlier today." She purred in his ear, while leaning back, giving him a very good look at her cleavage.

* * *

**Warning: Lemon from here on !**

Harry began sliding his hands up and down her body, using pressure points to strengthen her already existing arousal. He kissed her exposed neck and back and slipped his hands under her tight top. He knew with the top being as tight as it was, the additional pressure on her breasts would turn her on even more.

"Oh yes, that is the magic I spoke of. And this time I won't let anything distract me from my prize." She said, turning around, claiming his mouth.

While engaged in a heated making out session, Harry let his hand slip under her top from the front and began fondling her right breast. He cupped her breast and began massaging it. She was producing pleasant sounds, obviously enjoying his efforts. Then he moved his hand over to her left breast and repeated his actions.

"Oh yes, Harry. That's it." She moaned.

Stefania was very happy with how Harry complied with her needs. She needed him to shag her senseless right here and now. The danger of being seen only added to her excitement. And Harry didn't annoy her with hesitation; he realized what she wanted and just did it.

"This won't do, Stefania. This top has to go!" He ordered.

Oh yes, today she would let him totally dominate her. She loved that game. It always brought some of the best shags for her. Really, sometimes she had ordered Ricardo to play dominate and submissive with her, but her bodyguard was too prude to really enjoy the game. And she only used her bodyguards for sex if she couldn't find any better option.

"Yes, my Lord." She replied.

Harry understood, she wanted to play, well, he knew the game as well.

"Very good. I want to see the prize I have won in all its unaltered glory. Strip for me."

Harry let her go and gave her a look that meant he was serious about her stripping for him in the middle of the Abruzzi next to the road. He bent down into the cabriolet and turned on her CD player, using full strength of the sound system. He leaned at the side of her car and watched her, licking his lips. She absolutely loved his forceful look. She began to slowly lift her top while moving to the music and played with her full breasts, giving him a good show. Then she followed with her skirt, leaning over the cowl of her cabriolet, showing him just how small her thong was and slowly pulled her skirt down over her shaved legs. Now she stood there in high heels and thong and gave him a dancing interlude. She whirled around him, and was surprised when he stopped her motions and forcefully pushed her onto the cowl.

He started sucking her breasts and slipped his right hand under her thong. She loved the feeling he created. His left hand held her arms in place while he ravished her body. Yes, she really knew how to choose her men. She would definitely keep him for a while before she moved on.

"Oh yes, my Lord. Let me be your slave." She moaned fully emerging in her role.

He really knew how to increase her arousal. His fingers moved inside her pussy, stimulating her clit while he lightly bit and sucked her breasts. She wanted to know how big his cock was. He pulled her up to his face.

"So, you want to be my sex slave, slut." He stated looking intensely in her eyes, getting a nod. "Then on your knees and suck my cock."

She shuddered. This was what she wanted. Total domination. She undid the button of his jeans and pulled down the zipper. She then pulled down his jeans far enough that she could access his cock. His boxers were of the kind with a slit in front to have easier access to the cock she wanted to taste so badly. She got access and found his cock already hard, ready for action. But she wanted unrestricted access, so the boxers went down quickly as well. She began licking the tip of his cock with her tongue and sucked slowly. She knew how to do this, every man she had pleased this way was putty in her hands after she finished with them.

Harry groaned in ecstasy. She really knew what she did. He definitely liked this mission. This was one of the best blow jobs he had ever got. Oh, now she was resorting to deep throating him. Really, this girl was a true slut. Finally he felt his climax coming.

"Slave, I want you to take all my cum and swallow it." He demanded.

Then she pushed him over the threshold. And really, she managed to swallow the whole load.

"Really good." He said huskily.

"Did I do well enough for my reward, my Lord?" She asked, shoving her breasts into his face, making him suck them reflexively.

"Yes, my slave, you earned your reward. How do you want me to perform your reward?" He asked stroking her firm butt with his hands.

"Thank you for letting me choose, my Lord. Take me from behind, please. Pound into me with your rock hard cock, let me feel ecstasy." She feverishly begged.

"Very well, you earned yourself this favour from me. Bend over the cowl of the car, spread your legs, and I'll show you my appreciation." He said huskily.

She bent over, stabilizing her body with her hands on the cowl, waiting for him to take her.

"You forgot to do one thing; I'll have to punish you for it. Your pussy is still covered by your thong. I want no barriers between me and you. Next time, you'll refrain from wearing one at all. Is that understood?" He asked.

"Yes, my Lord. As you command." She said, extremely needy now.

Harry used a small knife he had with him all the time to simply cut away the thong.

He pushed his jeans and boxers completely down to get the full experience and positioned himself behind her and without warning thrust into her. She wasn't tight like a virgin, but still tight enough to make him enjoy this experience. He pounded her pussy mercilessly to the sound of her ecstatic cries.

"Oh yes, my Lord, please fuck me harder. Please fuck your slave faster." She begged and Harry complied.

'She really is into these roll playing games. Well, I'll have to think something up for tomorrow evening.' Harry thought while increasing his speed. 'Sirius would be proud of me.'

After several minutes of Harry pounding into her and flash smacking on flesh, he had her where he wanted her. He decided to give her an idea of his stamina today and go three times. He let her cum and get the full pleasure of her orgasm while he held his climax back.

"Thank you, my Lord." She moaned out.

"You're welcome, my slave, now that I have fulfilled your wish, I'll take you my way." He said, pulling out of her and turning her around. He pushed her onto the cowl so she lied on it again and forcefully spread her legs.

"I want to drink your nectar, my slave." He said and began attacking her pussy with his tongue, tasting the aftereffects of her orgasm.

Her moans were music in his ears. While he was licking her, she played with her breasts. He stopped licking her and pulled her hand away from her breasts.

"Those boobs are mine. You'll only play with them for me. Now I'll have to punish you again. You really are a naughty slave."

"Forgive me, Master." She pleaded lustfully.

"No, you'll be punished." He stated, pounding into her again, making her cry out in lust.

He moved to her breasts and attacked them violently with his mouth, producing a small amount of pain for her.

"You understand, slave?" He grunted while thrusting in and out of her.

"Yes, my Lord. I'll be a good slave." She moaned.

'My god, he is fantastic. None of the others could get into character for my games like Harry. I hit the jackpot.' She thought blissfully.

On top of the next hill overlooking the cut-out where the two were having fun, a black car was parked. Next to the car were two men watching the scene through binoculars.

"Damn, that is hot." One commented.

"Miss Estrago seems to have found an equal for her game." The other agreed.

"Yeah, that Potter knows how to take her. Her cries of pleasure are in the top range of our observations so far."

"Well, let her have her fun. As long as he doesn't do anything she doesn't want, we are not to interfere with her actions."

The two continued watching the fucking pair.

Harry brought her to her climax again and this time filled her with his seed. He was sure she had used protection before she came here, but he was also on a potion to prevent him impregnating any women he had sex with. He let his climax fade before he pulled out of Stefania's pussy. He turned her around again.

"Another round, you're insatiable today, my Lord." She purred.

"Indeed, my slave." He confirmed and positioned his cock at her second entrance this time. He carefully pushed into her ass, getting a lustful moan from her again.

"This is the punishment for playing with something that is mine to do with as I please, so remember it next time." He whispered.

"Yes, my Lord, I deserve this punishment." She obediently said.

Harry began to thrust in her ass and he could tell by her moans that she liked it very much.

**Lemon over**

* * *

Finally after over an hour of sex, Harry really wondered why no other cars or motorbikes had passed their location, Stefania put her top and skirt back on. She was pleasantly fulfilled and was already looking forward to tomorrow evening. Harry was putting his boxers and pants back on, also feeling very satisfied.

"Oh, Harry, you were great." Stefania glowingly praised Harry. "I never had a lover who was willing to comply with my ideas for role play so completely."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Stefania. Sometimes I just have to let the bad boy in me out." He said. "I'm also very honoured that you took that much effort to find me."

He held her in his arms smiling at her softly.

"So you figured it out. Well, I'm a girl with needs. And you, my bad boy, have just given me one of the best fucks I ever had. I really hope you'll think of something special for tomorrow, after all it's my birthday party."

"You won't be disappointed. But what will your guests say if I steal you for the majority of the night?" Harry asked huskily.

"They will cope. And it's not as if they wouldn't find ways to entertain themselves, if you understand me." She purred back, rubbing herself against him.

"Ah yes, I can imagine what they will do to get over their loss. By the way, do you have any favourites I should know about, considering my plans for tomorrow?" Harry asked.

"No, I want you to surprise me with your ideas. Today should have given you some ideas."

"Alright, I'll remember it."

Harry stepped forward and claimed her mouth a last time.

"Until tomorrow, Stefania." He bade her good-bye and mounted his bike, put the helmet on and sped away.

* * *

**Okay, I hope you liked it. I worked on the lemon to make it hopefully acceptable for the site. Till next time.**


	21. Aphrodite or Athena ?

**Hi, here is the next chapter, happy reading.**

* * *

**Aphrodite or Athena?**

Back at the hotel, Harry put his bag into his room and then went to James' room, the bottle of wine he had asked for in his hand. He knocked at the door and after a few seconds James opened the door.

"Ah, Harry, good you have found a bottle of wine, come in." James greeted and let the teen inside.

James went to the table and activated the protective equipment against listening devices that worked from a distance. He only used it for small periods of time, meaning when Harry was there.

"Report." James ordered.

"I successfully used the contact I made with Stefania Estrago today on the beach to intensify the relationship. The woman is truly a slut and has no reservation to where she seduces a man. She found out my whereabouts, probably from the hotel reception, and came after me into the Abruzzi. Her choice of clothing made it abundantly clear that she wanted sex. I complied with her wishes and played a game of dominated sex with her, she being the submissive part. She gave me verbal and optical signals that she wanted to play my slave. After I brought her to climax a few times, taking her in three positions, we ended the game and she put her clothes back on. She told me she wanted me to think up some interesting ideas for tomorrow evening. She wants another, different, role-playing-game.

"She didn't tell me any of her favourites, but as she is leaving the scenario to me, I have more than enough leeway to get the information we want." Harry summarized.

"Good work, Harry. Which scenario will you enact with her?"

"I'm not really sure yet. I'm considering three ideas. The first one is interrogator and spy. The second is emperor and concubine and the last is thief and princess. All three would allow me to ask questions during the game and with the V-Drug in her drinks she wouldn't notice it."

"Good reasoning. My suggestion is go with interrogator and spy. That way she could also pretend to gather information from you while seducing you. And nobody would think a real agent would go for that scenario. You're lucky that she likes those games so much. It makes things a lot easier than having to fish for information from a less vulnerable source." James commented.

"Hey, those harder jobs are for the 00 agents, James. I was just promoted to high class agent. I have some years of gaining experience before me until I could say I could give any of you a run for your money." Harry protested.

"True, but you never know in what kind of situation you'll find yourself in." James stated.

* * *

Harry was preparing to drive over to the villa for the party. He intended to make an impression by using the motorbike. As he was too young for driving a car, even if he knew how to do it perfectly, the bike was his best bet to intensify his bad boy image. He had dressed in a black, short sleeved, silk button up shirt, black trousers with black dress shoes and finished the outfit with a silver smoking jacket with a silver tie. As he doubted he would wear the jacket for long during the party, the shirt was tailored to show off his athletic build. James was already on his way to the dinner with Giovanni Estrago.

Harry took the present he had got for Stefania, a necklace made of silver with a sapphire, nearly the colour of her eyes in the shape of rose, as the pendant. He left his room, locked the door and went down to the garage where the bike was waiting for him. He mounted it and drove out of the garage of the hotel. He arrived at the front gates of the villa five minutes later and was let in without problem. Obviously the guards had been informed of his invitation. He stopped the bike in front of the entrance where a servant was ready to take his bike to the parking area. He handed the keys and his helmet over and went towards the music he heard.

The patio was decorated with flowers, antique ornaments and portraits showing off scenes of the Greek mythology. Harry assumed it had to be the theme of the party. He noticed that most of the scenes showed either erotic acts or classic stories about couples. Perhaps Harry would have to adjust his planned role-play a bit to include the theme of the party. He quickly went over the Greek legends he knew and decided he could keep his planned play of interrogator and spy, but include remarks about Greek mythology. Soon he spotted Stefania, who was clothed like a Greek goddess. The light dress didn't hide much of her curves and he was sure it was her intention.

Then she noticed him and came over.

"Harry, how good to see you." She greeted him.

"Stefania, or do I have to call you Aphrodite tonight? I didn't know that a goddess blessed me with her attention. I don't know if the token of worship this simple mortal brought you'll be enough to keep your attention." He said while giving her the wrapped present.

Stefania smiled. He was really good at getting into a role. And he had just found out the theme for her party too. Yes, she would have a great night with him. She was really curious what he would come up with. She took the present and unwrapped it. The necklace she found inside was tasteful but simple enough to be worn every day.

"Consider yourself in the favour of myself, Harry. I like your gift and it will have a special place in my heart. Now come with me, I want to introduce you to my other guests." She said, taking his hand and leading him towards a group of others.

'And I have to make it clear that you're out of bounds for any of the other girls. You're mine tonight, Harry Potter.' She added in her mind.

She had informed her female friends of her theme for the party and they were dressed similarly to her. After all, it wouldn't do if only she had her fun tonight. No, all her friends knew what kind of party this would be. She didn't expect any of them to stay at the patio for long. All over the grounds were little hiding places where her friends would be able to have fun with their chosen partner. Or partners. Normally most only lasted until they had drunk enough alcohol to be properly inhibited. All the servants were instructed to stay away from the grounds and let her guests have their fun, whatever kind they preferred. None of her guests had any illusions that they wouldn't have sex tonight.

"Hello, everyone. I'd like to introduce you to Harry. I met him at the beach yesterday and we got to know each other quite well for the short time we have spent together. So I decided to invite him for my party tonight." She said.

With the way Stefania pressed her body at Harry, everybody knew she had chosen him to be her new lover for a while. Well, they had enough selection of other targets. The group consisted only of beautiful females and handsome males. Nobody would go as far as to say they were true friends, more like they had the same interests and liked to let loose.

At eight, after everybody had their first round of drinks, a special cocktail called Cupid's Arrow was served by the waiters, Stefania opened the buffet, which of course followed the erotic theme of the evening. Harry had taken off his smoking jacket and Stefania was undressing him with her eyes all the time. Harry meanwhile teased her playing proper and decided it would be a good idea to let her feed him during dinner. She of course had her own ideas how this feeding would take place.

Harry enjoyed the food immensely. If there was one thing all parties of rich people had in common it was high class food and wine. He didn't complain at all when Stefania thought it a good idea to let him try different kinds of wine by taking a sip from her glass and then pressing her mouth onto his to have him taste the wine. Of course it was easier to not miss his mouth while sitting in his lap. Other guests obviously had even lesser inhibitions and some guys started eating from the girls they were with.

"You know, my goddess, if you continue with this, I might forget my dinner and start eating you instead." Harry whispered in her ear.

"You'll have to be patient for a while longer, my Adonis. I have to be a proper hostess for a while longer. But there is nothing keeping you from giving me more incentive to get them to start with their own little adventures sooner. I might know some ways how to speed things up a bit." She suggestively purred into his ear.

Harry knew she was challenging him. He had to have her alone, without any witnesses, to get the information they needed. And the more she drank, the less she would suspect. The cocktail that had been served in the beginning was definitely spiked with something. He couldn't identify what it was, but from the behaviour of the other guests, it had to be strong. If she ordered more of it to be served, it would help his goal. He took his fork, speared a piece of meat and started feeding her now. While she was distracted with the food, his other hand, slipped beneath her skirt, where he found out that she wasn't wearing any underwear.

She slightly gasped.

"You were really looking forward to this, right, my goddess?" Harry asked in a low and predatory voice.

"Oh yes, please make me feel good there." She replied with closed eyes.

Harry knew that none of the guests would think anything strange if Stefania would start behaving strange, so he pushed one finger into her already wet pussy and began moving it inside. Stefania started moaning softly. She decided she wanted to see more of Harry's chest, so she relieved him of his tie and opened the buttons of his silk shirt. He let her do it, enjoying it when she started stroking it with her hands.

* * *

"It's a shame that Stefania has reserved him for herself." One of the female guests said to another, watching the act their hostess and her chosen lover presented to the other guests.

Stefania had just liberated Harry of his shirt.

"Too true, he is gorgeous. I wonder if she would let us play with him once she has had him a few times. Or if she would be willing to share. Such a fine specimen of a man." The other one replied.

"You won't be that lucky tonight. She has it bad for this one. From what I heard from Gina, who is in charge of the rooms for the guests, she has organized that only Harry is allowed in her rooms for tonight. Make that her whole floor. Even the servants are banned from there completely. And she already has tasted him yesterday. Ricardo told Gina that Stefania ditched him and Fernando yesterday afternoon after she found out at the hotel reception where Harry went. She took her car and drove into the Abruzzi where he was exploring with his motorbike. From the look she had on her face when she returned she had good sex. And right now she is seducing him with all her skills. Not that he isn't reciprocating. Damn, they look hot."

They definitely did. Harry was sucking at her pulse point and she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

* * *

"What do you think, my goddess, do you have enough incentive to get us some privacy as soon as possible?" He huskily asked after he felt the result of his ministrations on his fingers, which he let her lick clean.

"Definitely." She answered and gave a sign to serve the next special drink.

Soon everybody was holding the glass with the cocktail.

"My friends, I want to thank you all for coming to my birthday party. I want to drink on a hot and erotic night and don't do anything I wouldn't do." She announced, before she downed her drink.

"Hear, hear." The others answered and followed her example with their drinks.

It took only half an hour until the others disappeared into the garden. Stefania only let Harry out of her sight when she needed to visit the loo shortly, the rest of the time she stayed close to him.

"You really know how to get some privacy without the others feeling let out of the fun." Harry complimented her.

"Of course, I'm the goddess of love, my Adonis. What do you say; would you accompany me to a more comfortable setting?" She purred while stroking his chest.

"It would be a sin to deny a goddess a wish, so lead the way, Aphrodite." He replied.

Stefania led Harry through some corridors of the villa towards her private wing. She pointed out some of her favourite decorations but Harry noticed her urge to get back to her room quickly. Once she had him in the room, she locked the doors and Harry got the opportunity to look around. The room was decorated in a style he wouldn't have thought she liked. It was too … upright. Something was not right here. He was soon proven right, when he found a wand pointed at him.

'Great, a witch. I'm sure my cover hasn't been compromised, so what could be the reason for this?' He thought, trying hard to find a way to get a grip of the situation.

"That is a nice stick, Stefania. Did you have plans to include it in the game you asked me to play?" He tried to buy time.

"Don't play stupid, Harry. After all, the Boy-Who-Lived should recognize a wand at first sight." She said calmly.

"So you're a witch. I wouldn't have suspected it. You clearly are very comfortable blending into the muggle world." He acknowledged.

"As well as you are. I find it peculiar that you would behave like you have done the past two days. All the reports I have from England show you as a perfectly good boy. Care to explain?" She demanded to know.

"As I told you, sometimes I want to be a bad boy. And you can't blame me for taking the opportunity when you clearly give signals that you want to have sex. I may normally be a nice guy, but I'm also a man and you're a beautiful woman. And by the way, I'd never force myself upon a woman." He told her. "So what reason did you have to get me alone and drug your other guests if you don't want to have sex? I don't think being threatened at wand point is a good turn on."

Then they heard muffled screams.

"What is that?" Harry asked.

"That isn't important now." Stefania deflected, turning slightly around to look in the direction of the sound, but Harry was faster and kicked the wand out of her hand in a fluid motion. He swiftly caught it and stunned her.

"I'm still faster than most wizards. Either you take me out immediately or leave me alone." He commented. He had his own wand in a disguised holster at his right leg and now took it out to conjure ropes to bind her to a chair. When he was sure she wouldn't escape if she recovered from the stunner faster than he thought, he went towards the closet where he got a surprise. Another Stefania Estrago sat there, bound and gagged. He quickly untied her and freed her of the gag.

"I assume you're the real Stefania Estrago." Harry said.

"Yes, that bitch Giulia surprised me when I was going to the loo some time ago. I'm glad you took her out. She talked about my father having enough of my escapades and wanting to have more control over me. As if I didn't know what kind of business man he is. Mafia, really. Now I know why mum left him."

"So you dislike your father's inclusion in the Mafia?" Harry asked.

"Of course I do. If you would excuse me, I need to call somebody." She said, getting her handy out.

She dialled a number and waited for contact.

"Jerome? I have been discovered. Dad got Giulia Cappellani to work for him. Thankfully I have been freed and will return to headquarters soon. I have the location of my father's local headquarters and a copy of the data on his mainframe. Get the others ready for action." She ordered her interlocutor, got some instructions back and then cut the line.

"So she is the infamous Giulia Cappellani. The woman said to be able to play every role she wants to. Well, now I know how she does it." Harry commented.

"Yes, I didn't know Dad had a witch, less of all Giulia, on his payroll. He doesn't even know that I know about magic." She scoffed.

Harry thought fast. Obviously Stefania was involved with another organization working against her father.

"How did you find out? Normally the magicals try to keep non-magicals out of the loop." Harry asked.

"Comes with my job. Only you Brits are that stupid to not have a secret service of magicals and muggles." She stated.

"So you're a secret agent. Just my luck." He said.

"Sorry to disappoint you. While I use my body to get information I need, most of the times the guys only think I slept with them. Advantage of being a witch. You though I couldn't let slip through my fingers and I have to say, I enjoyed it. You're a great lover."

She pointed her own wand at him.

"I'm really sorry, Harry, but I need to stop my father's plans. If he is successful, he will bring too many problems for Italy and I have sworn to defend my country. You have to forget what you found out." She said, obviously seriously sad to having to obliviate him.

'_Expelliarmus_.' Harry thought and sent her wand flying.

"What?" She said, shocked when he caught her wand.

"Really, my name should have rung some bells with you. Your double knew who I was at once." He commented. "I don't like being obliviated and I have a proposition for you. You want to stop your father, I'd like to help."

"How could you help? While you may have won the Triwizard Tournament, this is the real world. A world where you can't simply rely on magic without breaking the Statute of Secrecy."

Just then Giulia awoke.

"Just watch and learn." Harry said, taking out a vial from his pocket and forced it down Giulia's throat.

"What is your name?" He asked.

"Giulia Cappellani."

"What is your mission?"

"To gain the trust of Stefania Estrago and get into the Mafia cell of Giovanni Estrago for my employer."

"Who is your employer?"

"The organization."

"Shit, it had to be them. Where do you rank in the organization?" Harry asked.

"High, I'm the leading infiltration and assassination specialist as I can turn into every person I want to be."

"Are you a metamorphmagus?"

"Yes."

"What were your orders once you got into the Mafia cell?"

"I was to copy all the inventions the scientists Estrago has on his payroll made for his plans to take over Italy and then, when everything is ready, I was to take over for the organization by killing Estrago and taking his place."

Harry stunned her again, this time using his own wand.

"What organization is she talking about?" Stefania asked.

Harry saw that there was no reason to pretend anymore. This had to be handled by James as soon as possible. He needed to get his superior informed. He took out his handy and dialled James' number.

"Hi, Uncle James, this is Harry speaking. I wanted to ask, do we have some more of the wine I got you as a present for your host? I have found that my date for the evening is more mysterious than I first thought and she just loves the wine."

He was glad they had a code for the situation. Wine meant he had found a secret agent of another national institution.

"Great, you're coming back in an hour and will then show me where you hide it? Thanks, Uncle James. I'll bring her with me. Bye." Harry cut the connection.

"What was that about?" Stefania asked.

"We need to get back to the hotel. Did you clear the wing for the whole night?"

"Yes, I did, but why do you ask?"

"Let's just say, I have a similar part time job like you."

Stefania understood.

"So you want to apparate over and talk to your 'Uncle James' and then back so nobody notices anything?"

"That's the plan. We'll take her with us to get more information from her. It's a lucky coincidence she decided to show herself. Members of the organization are extremely hard to catch."

"What kind of organization are you talking about?"

"The kind that stops at nothing and is organized worldwide. They have their hands in any illegal activity that brings money. That they try to take over mafia cells is a new development though."

"So you're my British counterpart. I didn't know your Ministry of Magic worked together with the muggle Government."

"They don't, your information on that part was correct. But that doesn't mean that the muggle government is stupid enough to not employ wizards for jobs that include magical criminals."

"But you're only seventeen. How come you're doing this kind of mission solo?" She asked.

"Closeness to the age of the main target, you. And I'm the best in my age group. And you're one to talk; you're only a year older than me." Harry gave back.

"Point taken. But don't think I'd play Bond-girl for you." She countered.

Harry just grinned. Then he took hold of the bound Giulia and wrapped his other arm around Stefania.

"Ready to take off?" He asked.

"Always." She cockily answered.

Harry spun on the spot and vanished.

* * *

James sat in his room, looking at Harry and Stefania.

"Well, this is peculiar, but I know Jerome. I worked together with him once eleven years ago when we both just started taking high class missions. It would probably be best to coordinate any action we take against the headquarters with your cell, Stefania, to prevent that we end up working against each other while we have the same goal." James analysed.

"That would probably be best, but I need to contact Jerome. He is the one who can make those decisions. What are we doing with Giulia?" Stefania asked.

"Keep her drugged and bound. She is too dangerous to be left unguarded. And we can't risk anybody finding out about Harry, especially not the organization." James answered.

"How comes that I have never before heard of that organization?" Stefania wanted to know.

"That is because you only just were promoted to high class agent Stefania. James, it's a pleasure to meet you again." A male voice came from the door.

"Jerome, nice to see you too. You seem to have gone far since the last time we met." James smiled and shook hands with Jerome.

"Well, what do you know? I just did my job and my superiors thought it would be appropriate to let me lead a few other agents. Contrary to you I never was one for the absolutely crazy missions. I like it more to develop strategies to take out the bad guys than always be in the line of fire. Back to business. It seems our two junior agents coincidentally met each other. I'm surprised to see that your secret service also employs magical agents." Jerome commented.

"Oh, we did that for a long time. But we don't like to promote that fact. The more secrets we keep, the better for us." James said.

"Understandable. But I'm curious. How do you keep specifically him a secret? I mean he is famous all over the world." Jerome asked.

Stefania obviously also wanted to know. She listened intently.

"Oh, that is easier than you think. It helps that nearly no-one in the mundane world knows his name. He is just another British citizen. Only magicals would react to his name, but then again most start looking for his scar first. When they don't see it, they think it was a mistake. By now even without make-up it's hardly visible anymore though. The only time they find out is if he is forced to use magic. There are not many magical Potters."

"That makes sense. From what we know about magicals they tend to know little about mundane ways of disguise. Okay, let's talk business. I guess you had Harry there tasked to find out the location of Giovanni Estrago's headquarter to take it out." Jerome started analysing the situation.

"Yes. We knew from our contacts that Stefania used to take good-looking lovers close to her age on a regular basis. So we thought the easiest way to get the information we need would be to make her notice Harry on the beach, where she regularly was 'hunting' and get him onto her party. He would seduce her and use one of our truth drugs, while distracting her from his intentions, to interrogate her on her father's escapades and get us the location of the mafia headquarters. From there on I'd take over, steal the information from the mainframe and blow the whole thing up to prevent further activities from them.

"The biggest problem I see is Cappellani. If the organization is involved, we need to be especially careful. We managed to deal them a heavy loss two years back and took a big part of their British members out. None of the really high ranking ones, but enough of the muscle types and mid-high level ones to anger them. They would need many years to rebuild anything and we are keeping watch on the criminal activities more closely since then to detect their operations early on."

"Similar to our approach, but we didn't get a big group. But why does Harry know so much already? I'd have guessed he also is a fresh high class agent. Normally we only tell ours that information if they are directly involved into operations that concern the organization or if they have been high class agents for a year at least." Jerome wanted to know.

"The further." James just said.

He didn't give up more information though. While the Italian Secret Service was an ally, you never told an ally all of your secrets and the least the specialties of your own agents.

"Interesting. He has to be good. Already training up your successor?"

"Perhaps."

"Well, thanks to Stefania we have the data from the mainframe already, so we could start with the blow up part." Jerome pondered.

"That will be problematic. Their headquarters is extremely well protected. You would have to place the bombs inside. When my father built the complex, he placed the newest creations in security technology to keep any place safe, even from missiles, in his construction. If you don't get inside, you won't be able to place the bombs. And you would need many bombs to destroy the complex. It's quite large and fills a good part of the Abruzzi." Stefania informed them.

"Hm, normally I manage okay to get in everywhere I want to. Let's see the plans, then we can decide how to do this." James said.

In the end it was decided that James would infiltrate the base while Harry and Stefania provided distraction for the guards at the seaside entrance to the base. Following their first show the previous day it wouldn't be strange if they went on a trip into the Abruzzi with Stefania's car and had fun. James only needed a few minutes to get through the bars that secured the pipe he would go in through. He would have to dive up to the entrance from the sea, thankfully most of the way was not openly viewable. Only the last twenty meters were open plain. If Harry and Stefania got the guards distracted enough James would dive by and get rid of the bars. Once he was inside he would place the bombs, set the timers of the bombs for four hours after he started his mission and get out of there unnoticed.

At least that was the plan. The car James had for the mission would be parked close by so he could call upon more firepower in case he needed it.

* * *

Harry apparated him and Stefania back to her rooms at three in the morning.

"Such a shame we lost so much time, don't you think, Harry?" She asked purring.

"Hm, you're right. I didn't even get to show you the role-play I thought up for tonight." He answered.

"We should remedy that problem." She said, slowly coming closer to him, waving her hips.

"You'll hear no complaints here my goddess. I don't know if you're Aphrodite or Athena, but let this mere mortal show you how much he worships your beauty."

He closed the space between them and began kissing her sensually while stroking her curves under her dress.

* * *

**And done. Hope you liked it. Till next time.**


	22. Cooperation Between England and Italy

**Hi, here is the next chapter that finishes the arc of the mission to Italy. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Cooperation of England and Italy**

Two days after the birthday party Harry and Stefania met at the hotel entrance where Stefania had Harry enter her cabriolet, of course after giving a good show of passionate kissing to any spectators. She knew she was observed regularly by her father's men, so she had to make it believable. Not that that was a chore with Harry as her partner. They took off into the Abruzzi and over some detours came to the spot they would have to give a nice erotic show for the guards close by.

Harry made it look like he wanted to show Stefania something and had her stop the car.

"Come on, Stefania, the view is fantastic from here." He said smiling at her.

"You're right, Harry. This is the perfect spot." She said.

They were parking next to a secluded clearing that was still visible from the seaside. The side where the guards were stationed.

Harry took out a blanket and a basket from the boot of the car and placed the blanket on a grassy spot in the shadows of some pine trees. Without anybody seeing it he also cushioned the ground magically. No need to be uncomfortable when Stefania was a witch and wouldn't wonder. Today Stefania was wearing a spaghetti strap red dress that went to her knees. It showed off much of her cleavage and enhanced her curves nicely.

Harry wore beige shorts with a dark blue tank top, showing off his muscular upper body and his arms. He was taking out the things Stefania had packed in the basket. There were strawberries, a can of whip cream, a bottle of scented body oil, a bottle of sparkling wine with glasses and some silk shawls which Harry didn't know the use for yet. Stefania used the opportunity while he was unpacking the basket to stretch out on the blanket like a cat. She was watching Harry hungrily.

Harry, grinning at the sight before him, filled the two glasses with sparkling wine and handed one to Stefania while keeping one for himself. They clinked the glasses and began sipping the sparkling wine. Stefania leaned forward and whispered in Harry's ear.

"Pretend to be drugged by the wine. I often did it with former lovers to make them submit to my will."

"Okay. After how much of the wine?" Harry whispered back.

"Two glasses. After one they would expect you to be quite easy to order around and after the second one you don't retain much of your own will." She informed him while licking his ear.

"Dangerous." Harry commented.

"Why, yes. I gathered much information to ingratiate myself with my father that way. Sadly he seems to have got tired of me having so many lovers." She said smirking.

Harry took another sip from his sparkling wine as did Stefania. They continued to do so until the glasses were empty.

"Come on, Harry, please take off your shirt. It is too hot to keep so many clothes on." Stefania told him stroking his chest and he followed her command without question.

She had chosen to talk slightly louder than normal to get the guards interested. They would know they were in for a good show. And most of the men in Giovanni Estrago's mafia cell were perverts from Stefania's reports.

"Let me repay you for your fantastic massage some days ago, Harry. Please lie down on your stomach and let me use the oil I brought to massage your muscles." She purred.

"Gladly, Stefania." Harry answered.

He lay down on the blanket and Stefania took to massaging the oil into his skin. She had after all promised herself that she would see him all shiny from having oil on his muscles. And she knew he would gladly return the favour later. So she oiled his body everywhere. She started with his back and arms, processed to his legs and then had him turn around to take care of the other side of his legs and his chest. He looked really good. Then she started pushing her hand down his shorts, working his cock.

"Oh, Stefania, that feels so good." He moaned.

"I would hope so, Harry. Come on, take some more sparkling wine. I love that brand." She told him and filled his glass again. He obediently did so. He now pretended to be completely under her control.

"So, who is your Mistress, Harry?" She asked.

"You are, Mistress Stefania." He answered.

"Right you are my slave. Now your mistress wants you to use the oil to massage her whole body in the most erotic way you know." She ordered him.

Harry complied. He started with taking off her dress and sitting her in his lap. Fitting to her shown persona she didn't wear a bra or panties. His cock reacted to her nudity. He spread the oil in his hands and rubbed them together to have the oil on all the skin of his palms. Then he turned her around so that her back was pointing at him and he started rubbing her sides in small circles. He worked his way up to her shoulders, then down her arms. When his hands went back up, he let them roam over her breasts, making her moan slightly.

He continued with her backside. He laid her down on the blanket and started to draw figures on her bum. Each cheek got intense attention before he changed places turned her on her back and slowly worked his way up her left leg. He lifted the leg from the ground and cupped it with his hands on both sides. He massaged her muscles, especially the skin on the inside of her thighs. Then he repeated the whole procedure with her right leg.

Stefania felt her pussy getting wet and was curious when he would please her there. But for now her started stroking her belly and then again caressed her breasts. He really knew how to do this. When he had given all parts of her body his utmost attention with his hands, he pushed down his shorts and revealed his hard cock.

"The only way I can properly massage your exquisite pussy, Mistress, is to push my cock inside and fuck you senseless." He whispered in her ear, making her shiver in expectation.

"Do it my slave. Show me your skill." She ordered.

Harry didn't wait long and pulled her in his lap, her legs closing around his waist. He entered her in one swift motion and began to rock her back and forth in his lap, grunting at the pleasant feeling of having his cock push deep into her.

"Faster, my slave." She demanded and he obeyed.

He increased his speed and the force he used with each push and she screamed delighted.

"Oh yes, don't stop." She shouted.

Harry didn't intend to and continued his work.

* * *

While Harry and Stefania started the real show, the guards on the seaside entrance of the base got interested in the show and had their binoculars locked on the couple.

"Damn, we are lucky Ignacio; she is in a needy mood today." One guard commented.

"Very true, Raphael. Oh damn, he is so lucky. Having her ride him like that. That body, I'd really like to take her myself." Ignacio commented.

"You know the rules. Only she decides her partners. But if you're lucky you get to fuck her. She often takes one of her father's men into her bed. I know she did with Ricardo and Gino." Raphael said.

None of the two noticed the diver that swam to the bars that secured the entrance the two were guarding. Quickly he dispatched two of the bars and swam through. He put them back in place so that it looked like nothing had changed. He then continued on his way inside. The distraction had worked splendidly.

* * *

Jerome observed the whole operation from a higher point. He saw the shadow of James swim up to the entrance and then disappearing from sight.

"Phase one success." He spoke into a microphone on the collar of his shirt.

Harry and Stefania would get the message as well as the command centre.

* * *

Four hours later an earthquake was recorded in the seismologic institute of Rome. The epicentre was located in the Abruzzi. With a three point four on the Richter scale it was one of the weaker recorded earthquakes. When the scientists went to investigate if there had been any damages three days later, they only found a collapsed cave that wasn't accessible to them.

* * *

Harry and Stefania spent their last evening together in Rome using the opportunity to have a stylish evening with a candle light dinner in one of the top restaurants of the city. They visited some of the most popular tourist attractions of Rome, which were a fantastic sight at night and spent a last passionate night at Stefania's flat. The next morning Jerome and Stefania took Harry and James to the airport of Rome to bid them goodbye.

"As usual it has been a pleasure to work with you, James. Harry, keep up the good work and you'll go far in the job." Jerome said.

"Thanks, Jerome. I can return the compliment about working with you. And making the acquaintance of such a beautiful lady like Stefania is always a pleasure." James replied smiling.

"Thanks, James. It was interesting to have insight in a mission with the legendary 007. But no offense, I prefer your young companion over you. You're simply too old for me." Stefania said cheekily.

"Glad we chose the right agent for the mission." James replied pretending to pout at being called old.

"Harry, I'd love if we had the same missions in the future. Keep training to keep up with me." She teased him.

"I'd never disappoint a gorgeous woman like you, Stefania. I'll always remember this mission fondly in the future. If you ever are in England, look me up. Perhaps I can return the favour of the tour you gave me of Rome last night by showing you the sights of London." He took her hand and kissed its back gently.

"Always the gentleman. I look forward to someday meeting you again. Who knows, perhaps you'll one day surpass your partner from this mission." She suggested.

"I strive to get there one day. Arrivederci Stefania." Harry said kissing her softly one more time before he and James boarded their plane back to England.

* * *

James and Harry reported to M about the success of the mission and gave her a copy of the data that had been on the mainframe of the mafia.

"Well, while the mission went slightly different than we expected, good work from both of you. I already got a report from the Italian Secret Service and they thanked us for good cooperation with their agents. They also sent a special recommendation for Agent Potter's performance. Obviously you have really impressed them. And that isn't a common occurrence for a rookie high-level agent. Congratulations." M said.

"Thank you ma'am." Harry said respectfully.

"Agent Potter, you may go to the medical wing to get the mandatory examination done, Agent Bond, please stay and fill in some blanks that turned up for me." M ordered.

Harry nodded and left the office. When the door had closed behind him, M turned to 007.

"So, what do you think, Bond? How did Potter perform on the mission overall? I want your professional opinion." She wanted to know.

"Exceptional. He gained the attention of his target without problem and used his information to the highest benefit. His acting skills never wavered and he had Stefania wrapped around his finger while giving her the feeling to be mostly in control. He pushed her buttons perfectly and got the contact as intensive as he could in the short timeframe he had. He managed to get a personal invitation from her to her party in the first meeting at the beach. Then he had her so interested and needy for his body that she followed him into the Abruzzi.

"I'm sure if Stefania Estrago hadn't been a secret agent for Italy, Harry still would have managed to gain the information with the plan he had thought up. It was flawless with enough room for improvisation should anything have happened. When he was confronted with Giulia Cappellani, he kept his cool and disarmed her efficiently and immediately went into the interrogation. Thanks to his quick actions we now have one of the most wanted members of the organisation captured and can take out time getting all information she has on them. He contributed to the plan how to enable me to infiltrate the base and blow it up, never caring for modesty, only concentrated on the goal of the mission. I admit it was easier as Stefania played along, but for his first high class mission with giving assistance to a 00 agent he couldn't have performed better." James summarized Harry's performance.

"Good. He will return to Hogwarts in a week, meaning his mandatory leave after a high rank mission will perfectly fit with it. He will be on full leave for the next three days and after that I'll let the research department use his time to test some of their new ideas." She decided.

She dismissed James and he went in the direction of the medical wing before he would chill in the lounge and praise Harry's performance on the last mission.

* * *

Harry met Hermione when he left the medical wing.

"Hi, Harry." She greeted smiling. "How did your mission go?"

"It was a complete success. Sorry, but I can't tell you any details." He apologized.

"That's okay. R and Dad briefed me on some things. While it will take some time to accept that I can't know everything, I'll get used to it. Why were you in the medical wing, did you get hurt?" She asked.

"No, just the routine check-up after the mission. I'm headed to the lounge, want to come?" Harry asked.

"Sorry, I have a meeting with Stephen Zhane in fifteen minutes." She declined his offer.

Harry nodded. Zhane was one of the weapon inventors. He knew that Hermione's internship had her go through all parts of the research department. If she really was interested in working for the MI6 after school she would benefit from having an idea how many areas there were the MI6 worked in.

"Well, I wish you well for whatever he will show you." Harry said and went to the lounge.

To his surprise he found three 00 agents assembled there. 003, 005 and 008.

"Did I miss a note that this is a closed meeting for 00 agents?" He joked.

"Harry, when did you get back?" Lionel asked.

"I just got out of the medical wing after my examination. James and I came back here two hours ago." He answered.

"Sit down, have a drink and tell us what you're allowed to tell of your mission." Stacy, 003, said, well more or less ordered. "And you have no reason to forbid him to drink, Lionel." She added.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. He is old enough to know how much he can take. I just don't want to have to listen to his complains about hangovers tomorrow." Lionel appeased her.

Richard meanwhile filled Harry's glass with beer and handed it to him.

"Thanks, Richard." Harry said, taking the glass. He knew that Richard wouldn't give him spiked drinks. That wasn't his style. If it had been Stacy he would have to be more cautious.

He took a deep gulp of the cold drink and sighed happily.

"Okay, do you want to wait for James or should I start telling the story?" Harry asked.

"You can start and when James joins us, he can fill in where you don't want to continue." Stacy teased.

Harry, being used to her by now, prevented blushing like he would have done two years ago. He started telling how the mission had gone.

* * *

**And done. Till next time.**


	23. New Threat

**Hi, here is the next chapter. I also put up a new story today, so if you're interested check my profile. Happy reading.**

* * *

**New Threat**

Harry sat in a compartment of the Hogwarts express with Ron, Neville, Hermione and Ginny. Hermione, Ron and Harry had just returned from the prefect meeting where Harry and Hermione had just briefed the prefects of their duties in their function as head-boy and head-girl. With Harry getting the spot as head-boy, Ron had been given prefect status for Gryffindor. Hermione's replacement was Parvati.

Harry was glad that his best friend got a bit of attention now. He knew Ron had some problems with jealousy. In fourth year, after Hermione had been the hostage in the lake of Viktor Krum, even if she had been Ron's date for the Yule Ball, he had bickered with her some. Thankfully Harry managed to smooth things enough to prevent an all-out argument. And Ron normally stood in Harry's shadow. Harry couldn't do anything about it. He was famous and he couldn't change that. But since the Ministry had been remodelled by Minister Bones and Arthur Weasley was Senior Undersecretary to the Minister now, the Weasleys got more positive attention all over the wizarding world in Britain.

Ron had the goal to become an auror when he graduated from Hogwarts and since Slughorn had taken over teaching potions things were looking good for Ron. Harry hoped he would be accepted for auror training. His friend had worked hard for it and overcome his laziness of the past.

"And, how was the meeting?" Neville asked.

"Okay. Though how Harry will manage all his duties this year is a mystery to me." Ron admitted.

That much was true. Harry was head-boy and Quidditch captain for Gryffindor.

"The keyword is organization, my dear Ron." Harry gave a good imitation of Sherlock Holmes.

The Holmes series was Harry's favourite reading material at the moment.

"Ah, stop speaking like that muggle detective you tried to tell me about. I simply don't get why you enjoy those books so much. I mean the things the muggle villains do we can easily do with magic." Ron complained.

"Ah, I could say the same about the 'Martin, the Mad Muggle' series." Harry replied.

Neville shook his head grinning slightly. Harry was different, but he was one of the best guys he had ever met and he was honoured to call him his friend.

"So, ready for our last year?" Neville asked.

"Yes, it's strange to think after this year we'll start our careers in the world outside of Hogwarts." Hermione said.

She was especially torn. She hadn't completely decided yet if she would start at the MI6 or if she wanted to work in the wizarding world. Having to keep her job a total secret from her friends was hard. She didn't really know how Harry could do it so easily.

"Have you decided what you'll do after school?" Ginny asked them.

"Well, I'll apply for the auror training program if my NEWTs are good enough." Ron said.

"I'll take up an apprenticeship with a Herbology Master from Nottingham. I have talked to him over the summer break and after I got my NEWTs I'll start the apprenticeship in September. He is one of the leading experts in Herbology worldwide and he travels a lot to find new magical plants." Neville said.

"Hey, that's great, Neville." Hermione said.

"What about you, Harry?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not sure. I guess I'll travel for half a year; there are some places I want to see before I start working. I have offers to play Quidditch professionally, I could start auror training, but I don't know if I want to hunt dark wizards all the time. Curse-breaking also has its own charm to me after Bill told me what he did on his job. I'm not completely sure, that's one of the reasons I'll probably travel, to figure that part out." Harry said.

Hermione had to admire his acting skills. She knew Harry knew exactly what he would do after graduation. He would start his career as a secret agent full-time. He would be in the thick of things and be the shield between the people of Great Britain and those that intended to harm them.

"Lucky you to have so many opportunities to choose from. With your marks and your name you could start anywhere you want." Ron said.

Ron was right. For the past two years Harry had been top student of his year, surpassing Hermione because he took one subject more and still aced all his exams. Nobody knew how he did it, but Harry had managed to get straight O's on all his eleven subjects in his OWLs and he didn't stress out like Hermione had done. No, the wonder-boy of Gryffindor had managed to coordinate it with playing Quidditch as high-skilled as ever before, if not better, his prefect duties and one or another girlfriend at the time.

"And you Hermione?" Neville asked.

"I don't know yet. Starting at the Ministry to further more changes in the wizarding world is one thing that interests me. But I also like doing research on different topics very much. Much magic was lost over time and rediscovering it would interest me a lot. I'd like to further my knowledge, studying at a university would be great. I know there are three famous magical universities, perhaps I'll try to get a place there." She said.

Harry understood. For Hermione it was hard to decide if she wanted to join the MI6. It was a big change in life. For him, not so much. He had had the option to stay with the Dursleys, whom he absolutely detested, or joining the MI6, live with his godfather, and train to one day be strong enough to fight Voldemort. While Voldemort was dead now, Harry knew without the MI6 things wouldn't have worked out as well as they did. Sirius wouldn't have been free for all those years but having rotted in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit. Harry wouldn't have had the information to destroy Umbridge when she tried to make life miserable for Remus Lupin and the other werewolves in Britain. He wouldn't have had the necessary training to get through the Triwizard Tournament without them.

Voldemort's plan for resurrection would have worked and they wouldn't have known about the horcruxes to destroy him as early on as they had. Perhaps Dumbledore would have figured it out, the man was a genius after all, but he was sure he wouldn't have got the information as straight and directly as he had with the MI6. There wouldn't have been a solution to get rid of the horcrux in Harry's scar that didn't involve killing him and their world would probably have gone through war again.

And Harry had come to like his life as a secret agent in the service of her Majesty. He never was bored; there always was something to do. He got to see the world, meet interesting people and knew he was doing something to make the world a better place. He had always wanted to have a family and for him, the MI6 had become that family. He knew he was different, he had always been. But by now he had accepted that.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat in his golden, throne-like chair at the head table in the Great Hall and watched the sorting of the new first years. The number of children that started their education at Hogwarts had risen massively over the last years. A consequence of people feeling safe again after the fall of Voldemort in 1981. While in 1991 only about forty children had started, now there were ninety. He doubted that the numbers would rise much more than this for some years because so many young witches and wizards lost their lives to the Death Eaters in the war that would have had children that would attend Hogwarts now. And the next generation needed to grow up before they could give life to new little witches and wizards.

His eyes were on the young man that had a prophecy concerning him. From Severus he knew that the Dark Mark had faded from his arm. It was only a scar now that remained. It seemed like Voldemort was dead, but how did it happen? Harry had told him that Voldemort wasn't a problem anymore. How was Harry involved? Sadly Harry wouldn't tell him more. Things didn't work out with Harry like they should have done. There had been too many mistakes that had been made in Harry's early years. Mistakes that had cost the staff the trust of the boy. It was obvious that Harry was always on guard when one of the teachers was around. This shouldn't have happened, but he couldn't change it anymore.

Harry behaved politely in his classes, did outstanding work in all areas he put his mind on, and was popular all over the school. The only ones disliking him were the seventh year Slytherin pureblood elitists. The younger years were more open. Probably because Mr Malfoy wouldn't budge from his position. The punishment of his father for the involvement in Harry's kidnapping during the third task of the Triwizard Tournament didn't help either. He blamed Harry for it, but Harry just ignored the blond boy.

Now Harry Potter was in his last year. Head-boy like his father before him. He had come far. How Dumbledore wished that he could say he had been a major influence in the growing up of the young man. And with his grades the world was open for Harry. He hadn't heard a definite career plan from Minerva. Harry was undecided and would travel for some time to find out what he wanted. It was not uncommon. While most students had an idea what they wanted to do, some didn't. And Harry had so many options that he obviously liked that he could choose.

He would keep observing the young man, more he wouldn't be able to do.

* * *

It was the first Hogsmeade weekend. The students from third year and up were all filling the village. Many were going to Honeydukes and the newly renamed former Zonko's. Now the Weasley Twins had set up a branch of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes there. They had bought out Zonko's in August and started renovating the shop to their liking. Harry was quite happy with the development as he was shareholder in the business for having provided the start capital after his fourth year with his Triwizard winnings and a bit of extra cash. The twins had developed many useful items for Defence Against the Dark Arts that the MI6 had taken over for their agents.

And the Ministry of Magic, after Percy had shown Minister Bones some of his brothers' inventions, also ordered a great number of shield products. They were also exporting them to foreign ministries after Minister Bones had praised their quality in meetings with her colleagues. Harry at the moment didn't have a girlfriend, so he went to the village in company of Ron and Hermione. He had the impression that Ron still was interested in Hermione, but he didn't really say something. Harry wouldn't interfere with his friends' relationships. While he was quite experienced, he wasn't the best person to ask about advice for lasting relationships due to his job. He never had tried to keep his girlfriends for longer than a few months. He just didn't want to bind himself if he knew he couldn't stay faithful. Missions like his last one to Italy could always happen.

They reached Honeydukes and Harry noticed a tall black haired man in a black trench coat in the area with the unusual tastes. He was looking at the blood pops. From his appearance Harry decided he was suspect and needed to be observed. All his senses screamed at him that this man was not what he seemed to be. Harry went over to the part and looked at some of the products.

"How unusual to have somebody like you looking at this kind of tastes." The man addressed Harry.

"No more than seeing someone like you in a sweet shop at this time of the day." Harry answered, now knowing that the man was a vampire.

"I assume you're Harry Potter?" The man asked.

"I am, would you please tell me your name too?" Harry asked politely.

"My name is Dray." The man said.

Harry knew that name. Dray was a magical vampire that was a freelancing MI6 agent. Vampires were notorious for not working under anybody but some had decided that they didn't want to have trouble with the respective country's secret service and therefore offered to pass on important information when they came across some.

"Dray Magnus?" Harry asked to be sure and got a nod. "I guess you have information for me then?"

"Good to see you were informed about my position already." Dray said. "That makes things easier. Can we go somewhere undisturbed? I'm lucky enough that today the sky is hung with clouds, otherwise it would have been difficult to contact you."

"Sure, just let me get some sweets I wanted to buy. Then we can go to the Hog's Head. A pub in the village where rarely students come to." Harry suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Dray agreed.

Ten minutes later Harry ordered a butterbeer each for him and Dray, after asking discreetly with looks if normal drinks were okay for the vampire, from Aberforth and led Dray to a table in the corner of the room and cast a muffliato spell around them.

"Nobody can hear what we are talking about now. What is the reason you came to Hogsmeade, Dray?" Harry asked.

"I'm currently working with some guys as an investigator in strange occurrences in L.A. Normally my team works in Europe but this one case got us to travel across the Atlantic. Some other vampires have caught our interest as most of us simply want to be left alone. But the black sheep among our people are dangerous to our cover so we keep a close eye on them. During our last job we came upon information that a massive group of vampires is planning to attack somebody here at Hogwarts. The date was sometime in December. As the only target we could think of was either you or the girl you asked the slayer to help you protect, we thought it would be best if we warned you of the impending danger. I also sent a warning to M, but it was safer to also warn you directly. As I didn't know how to contact you from a distance without causing you too much attention I came over. Not to mention that this way I could get an idea of how the wards are working against vampires." Dray explained.

"That's a real problem. How many vampires are we talking about?" Harry asked frowning.

"At least thirty. They are non-magical vampires and not overly old. The oldest one is one hundred and twenty or so. The real problem are the numbers and that they are organized pretty well. The idea we had to help you prepare would be that you sparred against me to get used to fighting a vampire. From what I have seen of the wards around the school they are strong enough to keep vampires off the grounds. But here in the village there is no such protection. And even if you and the girl stayed in the castle in December there is still the possibility of them just attacking the other students or villagers if they don't get their main target." Dray said.

"I just can't get a normal year here. Okay, I need to contact my superiors of this. This is too much for me to decide alone how to handle. Are you able to stay in the Forbidden Forest, Dray?" Harry asked.

"Yes. The wards don't reach that far." Dray confirmed.

"I'll inform you about the plans tomorrow at the latest. Thanks for the warning." Harry said.

"No problem. But we would need a place for me to stay during the days if I stayed longer. While I can stay in the forest for some time, I need a place to store blood bottles." Dray said. "And there are no vampire hideouts in the area as the Ministry keeps too close and eye on the school and the village."

"The best place would be the Shrieking Shack here in Hogsmeade. It is connected to the school grounds by a tunnel. That way I could come there to train with you without being suspicious. And the shack is avoided by the villagers all the time so nobody would find you there." Harry said.

"Sounds good to me. Then I'll wait for your answer tomorrow. Is there a way I can contact you if something comes up?" Dray asked.

"I'll send you an owl with a communication device when I get back to school." Harry answered.

Both finished their butterbeers and then left the pub.

* * *

Harry went back to school after having lunch in the Three Broomsticks with his friends. They wondered where he had been and he told them he had met an acquaintance of his and talked to him a bit. When Hermione seemed to want to ask more he gave her a meaningful look and she stopped. She understood it was about his job. When he reached the school he went to Professor Sinistra's office and knocked on the door. He was called in and opened the door.

"Mr Potter, that's a surprise." She said. "I thought you would be in Hogsmeade today with the other students. Please come in."

Harry closed the door behind him and Sinistra secured her office with some privacy spells and locking charms.

"What's the matter, Harry?" She asked.

"We have a problem, Aurora. When I was in Hogsmeade I met a vampire called Dray. I confirmed his identity as one of our freelance vampire contacts." Contrary to Harry Aurora was only a middle class agent and therefore not privy to all information about magical agents or contacts. "I went to the Hog's Head with him to talk and he informed me of plans of a group of vampires to attack somebody in Hogsmeade in December. From what he knew from headquarters he thinks the most probable targets would be Julia or me. I think it is more probable that it's me they're after. There were no indications that the vampires or werewolves have found out that Julia and her mother didn't move away from Britain. From the information the CIA had they were still searching in Australia and Canada." Harry reported.

He had been kept up to date in the case as he was the highest ranking agent around Julia and the one that could act easier as Aurora was needed to keep her cover except in absolute emergencies like a full-out attack on the school.

"That really is a problem, Harry. It wouldn't help if you stayed at school in December either as they could attack other to lure you out. It's well known that you always try to protect others." She said.

"I know, Dray saw the same problem. He offered to help me train as my sparring partner to prepare me for an attack. But I think in this case we'll have to involve more agents. As good as I am, I can't take on thirty vampires on my own, not even if Dray helps me in the fight. I'm no slayer." Harry said.

"Yes, it would be best, but there is the problem of Dumbledore. He would know something was up if there appeared skilled fighters that are not from the Ministry in Hogsmeade to help against the vampires. And Dumbledore is somebody that we don't want to have suspicious of us." Aurora pondered.

"True. And asking him for help would bear a similar problem. But perhaps we can invent a story that comes close to the truth without compromising our cover." Harry suggested.

"And how would we do that?" Aurora asked.

"Let me think about it a minute." Harry said and thought what could work with Dumbledore.

Finally he looked like he had an idea.

"We tell him about Dray and offer him to meet him. Of course we inform Dray first that he can't tell Dumbledore about me being a secret agent in any case. He can tell Dumbledore that he found out about the attack planned and deducted from what he read in files he copied from the rogue group that I'd be a probable target. To prevent me being killed he came over to warn me. As he can't get into the wards he contacted me and asked me to inform Dumbledore and arrange a meeting. That way we won't be open to suspicions but still get preparations done. We'll have to keep Julia in the castle in December; she wouldn't be able to defend herself properly. I think Dumbledore can make portkeys to the castle; that would be a way to evacuate the students if it becomes necessary." Harry explained his idea.

"Okay, I'll contact M to get the go ahead. When are you going to meet Dray again? And where will he stay?" Aurora asked.

"I suggested the Shrieking Shack. For now he is in the Forbidden Forest." Harry replied.

"Good. I'll inform you once I have orders from headquarters." She said.

Harry nodded and stood up from his seat.

"I'll go to the owlery to send Dray an owl with a communicator to be able to contact me if something comes up." Harry said.

"Okay."

Harry left the office and went to the owlery.

* * *

**Okay, that's it for today. Till next time.**


	24. Facing a Vampire Attack

**I hope you like the way I described the attack and involved Dumbledore without telling too much. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Facing a Vampire Attack**

Early the next morning Harry got a message from Agent Sinistra that M had given the go-ahead signal with the plan and that she had 008 train the other agents to be able to interfere in a fight if needed. The security of Harry and the other students was the top priority. Harry contacted Dray over the communicator and informed him about the plan. After that he went to Dumbledore's office. He looked at the gargoyle.

"I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore in a matter of utmost importance." He told the gargoyle, knowing it was able to forward the request to Dumbledore.

Soon the gargoyle sprang aside and Harry stepped on the rising stairs. He walked up to the door and knocked before walking inside.

"Harry, that's a surprise. What can I do for you?" Dumbledore asked.

"Good morning, headmaster. I have come with a problem that includes the safety of all students, especially mine, during the planned Hogsmeade weekend in December." Harry said.

Dumbledore's looked changed to serious immediately. He motioned for Harry to sit which he did.

"What exactly is the problem, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"You remember the problems with the vampires that were after Julia Thornston two years ago?" Harry asked.

"Of course. We massively improved the strength of our wards to keep out any dark creatures that could be associated with her criminal father that could want retribution. I personally coordinated the plan to hide Julia here with the magical arm of the CIA. Did something new happen?" Dumbledore asked concerned.

"From what I was told, they don't know that Julia is still here. But I need to explain a bit more. I did a lot of research on vampires when Buffy asked me for my help and afterwards as I didn't want to face a potential danger without sufficient information. When Buffy Summers, the slayer and free CIA agent, told me about the problem two years ago and asked me for my help to get her to Professor Slughorn's party, she also told me about a vampire she was cooperating with and whom she had left to keep watch over Sunnydale, her hometown. As Sunnydale is the location of a hellmouth, she didn't want to risk the vampires becoming too bold while she was absent. Now there is a massive difference between magical vampires and non-magical ones. Each of them has more physical power than a normal human and some gain a few magical abilities like hypnosis when they are turned. The vampire Buffy worked together with is one of a kind among the non-magical vampires as his soul was restored in a Gypsy ritual somehow to punish the vampire for his sins. From what I could find out he was once known as Angelus, a particularly cruel vampire, but since he got his soul back he faded into the underground.

"Now a big part of the magical vampires isn't bothering with the non-magical vampires and they see them beneath their station. They either have contacts that arrange that they get blood bottles or they attract willing feeders whom the grant boons for being the source of fresh blood for them. They normally can blend into the muggle world better than most wizards and witches as they depend on having access to blood sources. With their long life spans they have all the time in the world to amass riches and live in luxury. Now and again a few get really power hungry, but as that normally is dangerous for those of their kind that simply want to live in peace they are usually stopped by their own people before they become too big of a problem.

"Last Hogsmeade weekend I was contacted by a magical vampire called Dray who does some freelance work for governments that pay him and his group well, he didn't tell me details. The important part is that when they were investigating in another case they found plans for an attack on Hogsmeade in December. Among the vampires the black sheep are known and also their helpers. Which includes Julia's father. They also know who was involved in bringing him down, no matter what kind of involvement it was. Buffy is one of the ones that got a warning, the CIA of course and now I was warned.

"As those vampires that Dray's group investigated were associates with Julia's father, Dray assumed that either Julia or I are the intended target. He contacted Buffy and she told him that those that are after Julia and her mother still don't know where they are and are searching Australia and Canada. So the most probable target is me. Dray would like to meet you and assist in planning a counterattack on the vampires when they come to get me. The problem we see is that if I don't go to Hogsmeade the vampires will just attack the villagers and other students there. I don't want to let that happen and I won't just hide away. Dray offered to train me to help me prepare. But with the numbers they suspect to be involved, even if he fought at my side things wouldn't work out. I am good and I can take care of a handful of vampires on my own, but not thirty or so at the same time." Harry said.

"That's a serious problem. I'm glad you informed me. We will have to cancel the trip in December." Dumbledore said.

"I don't think that will be enough. They could just wait until a later date and attack when we don't expect it. We have a chance here to prepare and take them out without them suspecting anything. If you would allow it, Dray could tell you more about it. He is currently staying at the Forbidden Forest to avoid the sun. He needs you to key him into the wards to be able to talk to you or you to come to a location where he can meet you safely." Harry said.

"Hm, you say he is waiting in the Forest." Dumbledore said.

"Yes, I thought that would be the easiest place for him to stay still being close to Hogwarts but not being found out. You know how people react to vampires. We didn't want to cause a panic." Harry answered.

"Okay, why don't we do it right now? We can meet him in the forest and I'll key him into the general wards of Hogwarts for today. After that I will decide how to proceed." Dumbledore said.

Harry nodded and followed the headmaster out of his office.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They walked inside a bit until Harry felt the wards ending.

"Thank you for seeing me, Professor Dumbledore." Harry heard Dray saying.

He looked left and saw Dray stepping out from behind a tree.

"So you are Dray?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes. I assume Harry already informed you about the problem?" Dray asked.

"That he did. I'm really concerned about the news you brought. I'll key you into the wards of Hogwarts for today and we can discuss the matter in my office. Harry said you thought there would be a problem with cancelling the trip." Dumbledore said.

"Yes. But I think it wouldn't be smart to discuss this all in the open. You never know who might listen." Dray answered.

Dumbledore nodded. He waved his wand in the direction of the wards and Dray felt the barrier that kept him out opening. The three returned to the castle and Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore signaled them to sit down and ordered tea.

"So what are the exact details of what you found out Dray?" Dumbledore asked.

"In a case two weeks ago, my co-workers and I came upon documents that outlined plans for a massive vampire attack in Hogsmeade. As I have been in England before I knew that it was the village close to Hogwarts. Then I remembered hearing that Buffy Summers went there to protect a girl two years ago. I called her and she confirmed her involvement in a case here. She agreed with me that the most probable targets for the planned attack would either be Julia di Fances or Harry Potter. She contacted the CIA and told me, after confirming that I had worked with them in the past and didn't belong to those that were after the girl, that from all reports there was no indication that the vampires that were protected by di Fances, had found out about her staying here. So that left Harry Potter being the main target.

"With the numbers that were indicated to be involved in the attack, at least thirty vampires, all non-magical and none older than one hundred and fifty, we knew we needed to warn Harry of the attack. Considering that no normal wizard can take on a vampire without training I came over to offer support. Those non-magical vampires are pests and spread far too quickly for the liking of magical vampires. They are a threat to our continued living in the shadows, therefore we decided that taking action was our best choice. With a few stops to avoid the sun, I reached Hogsmeade. From the villagers I heard that at the weekend the Hogwarts students would come there, so I waited for Harry to appear there. As he is famous, especially after winning the Triwizard Tournament, I could spot him easily and make contact. That the day was cloudy was a massive advantage. I told him about the danger he was in and offered my help in training him. But we also talked about the need to protect the students in case the vampires will just attack others if they don't get their main target. We can't hope that in December we will have a sunny day at the weekend where the students will visit the village, with the normal weather here in Scotland that is very improbable." Dray explained. Harry's instructions had been pretty detailed on the plan they had come up with to deceive Dumbledore to not blow Harry's cover as a secret agent and still get protection for the students.

"Hm, that indeed is troubling. Harry said you didn't think stopping the whole trip would gain us the results we need and that it would only endanger the students more?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes. Vampires don't just give up. We are used to wait if necessary. After all, we are immortal, so waiting a bit doesn't really matter. If they are after Harry, they will either just attack the villagers, demanding he comes out to face them, or wait until a later time, when he doesn't expect them. Which can be much more dangerous. Now we have an idea what the plan is and when they will strike. We can prepare the battleground and quickly put them in a position of disadvantage. I have thought about using methods of immediate travel to get the students to safety." Dray said.

"Yes, that could work. We have the floo, apparition, but that can only be done by wizards and witches that are of age, and portkeys, which would only be an organisational problem." Dumbledore said.

"Good. Can you supply all the students that will visit Hogsmeade at the weekend in December with those portkeys and perhaps the villagers too and have them transported to a safe location? I don't know if everybody will be able to apparate safely under duress and the floos will not be enough and the villagers and students could be cut off from the locations. The most problematic thing with non-magical vampires is that they don't have a soul, and don't feel regret for their actions. If they notice that they have been led into a trap, they will try and take hostages. They won't care if the hostages are hurt or die. They will only be shields to them or leverage to get away. If we can take away that possibility for them, we can set up something and win." Dray explained.

"Hm, while that will be a lot of organisational work, it can be done. We can equip the students and the villagers with portkeys to Hogwarts to get them out of danger. But we would need support to fight against the vampires." Dumbledore said.

"Well, Buffy is busy and can't help us, the same is true for Faith. Those are the two slayers I know of. Perhaps you could contact the watchers here in Europe to see if there is a slayer here that could help." Dray said.

"Isn't there always only one slayer?" Harry asked confused.

"That is a popular miscalculation. The potential to become a slayer lies in many girls. But only when there is the need for one to awake it will happen. Normally that is when the former slayer dies. But as I told you, I know two slayers in America. Faith got a bit trigger happy and was put on the shit list of the watchers. I think the correct number of slayers is one per continent or something like that. I'm not really sure. At any time there are really few." Dray explained.

Harry nodded and pondered how to do this.

"So the best bet would be to see if we can get the help of a slayer, set up a team of fighters that are trained to kill vampires and train me up so I won't be killed when they attack." Harry summed it up.

"That seems to be what we need to do." Dray confirmed. "As I said, I would offer to train you in fighting against vampires. We only need a place where we can train undisturbed and I need a place to stay during the days."

"Yes, well, I think the easiest for you to stay close without me having to key you into the wards permanently, Dray, would be the shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. It is believed to be haunted so nobody would disturb you there. Additionally there is a tunnel from the Hogwarts grounds to the shack. Harry could use it to meet you and get the training done." Dumbledore said. "Will you manage that with your overall time management, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes. I can schedule the Quidditch training two days during the week after dinner and get the training with Dray done after dinner for two or three hours the other three days. That will leave me with enough time for my homework. And as the attack will be in December, I will have more than enough time for studying for my NEWTs." Harry replied.

"Good, then that's settled. I will see if I can get some experienced fighters to bolster our ranks." Dumbledore said.

* * *

The next month Harry trained extremely hard with Dray in the Shrieking Shack and with anybody the MI6 could offer to get ready to face the vampire threat. Aurora gave him a time-turner that the scientists had created after Aurora had borrowed one from the school stocks for highly talented students that wanted to take too many classes after the choices for electives came up. They were used on special cases. So now Harry repeated the time he spent during Quidditch training to fight with other agents to be ready for any vampire that could attack him in December. He got regular updates on how the MI6 agents were faring with their own preparations for the fight and it was encouraging to know that he would have at least ten highly capable agents fighting by his side next to Dray and whoever Dumbledore could come up with.

All of their werewolf agents would be included as they were naturally faster and stronger than normal witches and wizards. MI6 had started helping them get an understanding with their werewolf sides to fully profit from the physical improvements. Their Potions master had even managed, after closely analysing the wolfsbane potion and donated werewolf blood, to improve the formula for the wolfsbane to help them not only keep their minds, but also undo the effects of the transformation on them afterwards. The one thing they needed to do after the night was sleeping a few hours and they were fully operative again without the former tiredness and pain of the transformation. The werewolves working for MI6 had been delighted hearing that. It enabled them to be just like everybody else with a little change one night a month.

Dumbledore had informed him that the portkeys were authorised by the Ministry secretly. Minister Bones had been really cooperative and had offered her ten best aurors to support the operation. The names on the list were as far as Harry knew the crème of the crop of the auror corps and he would be happy to have them at their side. The one thing that needed to be figured out how to do was getting the students to Hogwarts without them making a fuss.

* * *

Professor Dumbledore stood in front of the students at the Great Hall. It was time to give instructions for the Hogsmeade trip. The teachers after discussions with Minister Bones and the head of the DMLE Rufus Scrimgeour and the head auror Kingsley Shacklebolt had decided to let everything look like an emergency drill, suggested by the Ministry to be ready in case something really bad happened. Reason was supposedly a catastrophe over in America where an insane wizard had killed dozens of students during a school trip before anybody could bring him down. To avoid anything like that happen to Hogwarts students they would all be given special school portkeys that would bring them to Hogwarts when they were activated.

The explanation took ten minutes and then the students were allowed to ask questions. After half an hour all questions were answered and the heads of houses called their students forward one by one and year by year to make sure every student had a portkey. They stressed the importance of the portkeys being on their person all the time, which was easy as they were necklaces that the students were told to put on at once and to never leave the grounds without them. Otherwise handing them out would be futile. They were told that the portkeys could either be activated by them using the password 'safe haven' or by a teacher who realised a danger to the students. Professors Flitwick and Sinistra would be accompanying the group and if they thought it was necessary to evacuate the students they could do so by using the activation phrase which only they would be told.

Nobody needed to be told that Harry would have a special necklace, one that only he could activate. He also would be able to activate the group evacuation; it would be put down to him being headboy. The Order of the Phoenix had reactivated its most battle-experienced fighters as had the DMLE. Since Harry's warning Minister Bones and Head Auror Shacklebolt had personally made sure, one by giving very clear orders and the other by putting his aurors through the grinder, that all aurors that would be on call for the Hogsmeade weekend were in top form and could go up against any dark creatures that might turn up but vampires in particular. A handful of aurors would be in Hogsmeade, patrolling as if it was nothing out of the norm. Which it wasn't as after taking up the Minister post Amelia Bones had set up regular patrols of aurors in the major magical environments like Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley and Platform 9 ¾, especially on days when lots of witches and wizards were around there.

* * *

Harry was looking out for any sign of trouble. He was armed with weapons that would work against vampires, meaning Gryffindor's sword and a number of stakes. The sky was covered with clouds that unloaded the snow they held over the village. If not for the imminent danger he would have enjoyed the picture Hogsmeade covered in snow showed. He knew that Dray was waiting close to the Shrieking Shack. Training with the vampire had been hellish but now he at least had a chance to go up against higher numbers of vampires than to or three which had been about the number he could safely take on before. Non-magical ones that was. Harry had learned the hard way that magical vampires were another level altogether. The speed Dray used in their spars was truly inhuman. There were ways to enhance the natural speed of all vampires with magic and the older magical vampires all knew them.

Harry had been taught the basics. Without the vampire traits he would never measure up to a powerful magical vampire in that regard, but any non-magical vampire was now beneath him or for the really old and powerful ones about his equal. Harry was very happy about that. The speed was the main problem in fighting vampires. You could deal with the physical strength with good tactics and reflexes but the speed was what made them truly devastating.

The trip had now gone on for one and half hours. Harry was sure that soon the attack would start. He was walking around in company of Hermione and Ron. Ron still hadn't got up the courage to ask Hermione out. Harry thought if he didn't do it soon he would miss his chance. Once they were out of school they would probably see each other less often. Well, if Hermione didn't take up the job offer of the MI6 that was. She was tempted to accept it, he knew that. She had asked him about a lot of things concerning how working there was. The major problem was that she wouldn't be able to talk to anybody about it. Harry only pointed out that it wouldn't be any different if she became an Unspeakable. In the end it was her decision. Harry only hoped that she would accept because they could really need a researcher as brilliant as her.

And while under Minister Bones prospects for muggleborns had massively improved at the Ministry, there were still a lot of stones placed in their way by the system. Too many laws subtly disadvantaged them and those that created the laws knew how to play them out perfectly. In fact there were about two hundred years of bigoted laws that needed overworking. Even Minister Bones hadn't been able to simply void any laws passed in the last two hundred years. It took time to unravel the mess that was their law books. Too many were connected and enabled loopholes for the other.

Harry heard a soft tapping on the receiver he had in his right ear. That meant that Dray had sensed the vampires that were about to attack. He subtly slid a small stake into his hand without revealing it. Then he spotted movement from the corner of his eye and jumped to the side, avoiding the attack completely.

"Get everybody out, Hermione." Harry ordered. "I'll deal with this."

"Okay, be careful." Hermione agreed and called for all students to go back to Hogwarts causing a mass departure via the portkeys.

Ron tried to hit two other attackers with stunners but they moved too fast for him. Harry spoke the password to get all other students and the villagers in a two mile radius around him back to the school. Hermione and Ron were taken away with a few stragglers that hadn't reacted immediately by saying the code word to activate their portkeys.

Now only the trained fighters were here.

"You knew." One vampire with a distorted face snarled.

"I did and I won't let you hurt any innocents here." Harry stated.

"It doesn't matter, you will be dead very soon." The vampire replied and jumped at Harry only to be shocked when Harry moved faster than him and rammed a wooden stake into his heart, making him turn to dust.

Harry immediately turned on the others. The sword of Gryffindor, which he had hidden in a sheath on his back, and the stake flashed at high speeds, taking the vampires completely by surprise. Others now also were fighting and Harry could see Dumbledore using a fire whip to take out one vampire. Harry meanwhile used a nifty little trick that Dray had shown him. While you couldn't use spells with a sword, a goblin forged one like that of Gryffindor could be used to fire off elemental attacks. So another group of five vampires that targeted Harry got a taste of flying fireballs when they got too close. The fire burned them to ashes in under a minute.

Once he had taken out the five vampires he looked around to see where he could help. He saw that most other fighters were hard pressed against their superior foes. Even without magic the vampires avoided the spells shot by most aurors and the old Order fighters were completely useless. The MI6 agents were teaming up on a vampire each and therefore got the upper hand. Not to mention that they were the ones suited best to deal with the physically devastating fighting style of vampires. Most wizards depended too much on their magic to be effective against an opponent like this. Dray meanwhile was taking out his opponents with ease.

Harry tried to direct attacks on Order members that were clearly outmatched to him. He got one vampire that was about to kill Dedalus Diggle with a fireball and then took on another one, ramming a stake into his heart to the shock of the old man. The fight only lasted ten minutes but it had devastating effects. Five dead Order members, two dead aurors, four injured aurors, one severely whom was immediately portkeyed to St. Mungo's and two slightly injured MI6 agents.

Harry saw Lionel and Remus organising the treatment of the injured ones before leaving to not stand out too much. Especially Lionel didn't want to be put under scrutiny. If anybody noticed the similarities with Sirius Black it would be bad. During the fight nobody had a chance to look closer but after it was another matter.

Harry looked around the village. At least ten houses were damaged. Well, with magic they would be repaired soon enough. His personal count was eleven vampires. He thought only Dray might have more. The aurors took reports of all fighters and then one left to report to Madam Bones. Dumbledore looked at Harry in shock. It was clear that he hadn't expected that Harry was such an accomplished fighter. Harry could see that he wanted to question him about it but Harry would block as much as he could. He would give his description of the fight and then ask to be left alone so he could concentrate on his studies as it was his NEWT year. He really didn't have the time for long questionings.

The question was if Dumbledore would simply take that statement or try something to get back in Harry's good books.

* * *

**That's it for this time. I don't know yet if I manage to get the next chapter up in two weeks as I'm really busy with work and don't have the next chapter ready yet. I will do my best though.**


End file.
